Kingdom Hearts The 8th Princess of Heart
by fusion90XXXX
Summary: Sora and friends are on another adventure to find the eighth Princess, and the lights of the worlds, before the dark forces do. When three Keyblade apprentices accompany them to find a missing Keyblade Master, things take a turn for the worst.
1. Chaos Starts An Adventure

**Chapter 1 (Remastered Version)**

AN: This story takes place three months after Kingdom Hearts II, and everyone looks the same as they did in Kingdom Hearts II, though in the next chapter, Kairi and Naminé will get a costume change.

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all related to Kingdom Hearts in this story. It all belongs to Square-Enix._

* * *

**_Destiny Islands_**

On a warm sunset on Destiny Islands, Sora, the Hero of Light, was standing on the shore of the playground island, where he, and his other friends, liked to play as kids. He was very happy to be back home, and to be with his mother again, who missed him like crazy. Although at the same time, he missed all the other things. He missed Donald, and Goofy, and all the crazy adventures they had together. After all, he was basically an adventurer.

Though he still longed for adventure, he knew it might never happen again. Unless there was a problem with the Heartless, the Nobodies, or Maleficent and the other Disney villains, there wouldn't be one ever again. He was able to accept this though, and managed to have a normal life again on the islands. He and Riku would spar from time to time, like they used to do as kids with wooden swords. Riku and Sora were even in wins and losses.

Sora was also spending a lot of time with Kairi, who was as of their return home, his girlfriend. The two would still play together on the island the way they did as kids, or before Sora's first journey began. They would often talk about all the crazy stuff that happened after their world disappeared, as well as things that happened before Sora woke up from his long sleep, and after he and Kairi were separated after Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeated Xehanort's Heartless, Ansem.

Kairi has also learned to properly use a Keyblade. She used the one that Riku gave to her in the World That Never Was when he and Kairi fought off the Heartless to help Sora before he fought Xigbar, called Destiny's Embrace. Riku and Sora taught her some of their moves, as well as how to use some spells. After much training, Kairi discovered she was proficient with Limits.

On another note, Roxas and Naminé have been boyfriend and girlfriend for about the same time as Sora and Kairi. No one knew how it was possible, but Roxas and Naminé eventually found out they could physically live outside of Sora and Kairi, but all four were still complete beings. While no one understood how this was possible, or how it happened, they didn't really care. After they split from Sora and Kairi, Roxas and Naminé were both adopted by their former other selves parents. Roxas lived with Sora and his mom, while Naminé lived with Kairi her adoptive father.

Roxas is protective of Naminé because of the terrible things she went through in the past with how Organization XIII, and Ansem the Wise as DiZ, treated her. He promised Naminé he would never let anyone hurt her ever again. All he wanted was to see her smile and laugh like she always does. These promises reminded Roxas of his time of friendship with Axel, when they would watch out for each other and help one another.

Naminé could also use a Keyblade like Kairi. She used the Two Become One Keyblade. Like Kairi, she is also proficient at Limits.

Tonight is going to be a special night at the islands. Tonight was the annual celebration that everyone from the main island attended, which has been a traidtion for centuries. Sora was so hyperactive about it that he couldn't stop thinking about it.

When he went back to the main island, he looked up to the sky and saw two twinkles. He looked closer to see they were two big objects landing not to far from where he was standing.

He quickly ran in the direction they to confirm what they were. Getting there didn't take Sora long, but when he saw what the two objects were, he couldn't believe his eyes. They were Gummi ships. More specifically, the Invincible Lv.7, and the Falcon Peak models, both upgraded versions. Out of them, stepped Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Leon's gang, with two he'd never seen before. "Hey guys!" Sora called, happily waving at see his comrades.

"SORA!" Donald, Goofy, and Mickey screamed with joy as the dog piled on him.

"Alright guys, it's good to see you to." Sora said laughing as he somewhat struggled got out of the dog pile.

"Long time no see." Yuffie said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked.

"There have been some weird things happening around the worlds, so we're checking things out." Leon answered.

"Your world was the next one we were going to check out." Cloud added in.

"Can I lend a hand?" Sora asked.

"Sure, we could use all the help we could get right now." Tifa said.

"Thank you Sora." Aerith added in.

"Sure. By the way who're they?" Sora asked looking at the two people he didn't know.

"Oh these are our friends, Rinoa and Zack." Aerith answered for Sora.

"It's nice to finally meet the Keyblade master I've heard so much about." Zack said shacking Sora's hand.

"Same here. Leon told us a lot of things about you." Rinoa added in.

"Well let's go!" Sora replied as he led the others away.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Later that night, the celebration on the main island was under way. It pretty much had everything that a carnival would have. Food, drinks, games, rides, everything people would want. Sora and everyone else were walking through the place, making sure that nothing was going wrong. They would go on rides and play a few games every now and then. Sora of course, was eating food more than anything else.

He and Kairi had also released Roxas and Naminé from their bodies, thinking it was about time for them to live their lives outside their true selves bodies. They'd been having more fun then they've ever had in their short existence. But something happened that would spoil the fun for everyone. Something that no one really saw coming.

"AAAAAHHHHH! HELP! CREATURES ARE ATTACKING!" a woman screamed.

"That's our cue." Sora told the parties. He and everyone quickly ran in the scream's direction.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the parties arrived at where the scream came from, there were a vast amount of Heartless swarming around everywhere as the people fled in terror. The attacking Heartless were of both Pureblood, and Emblem. Air Pirates, Angel Stars, Invisibles, Wyverns, and Battleships in the air with Shadows, Large Bodies, and Soldiers on the ground. There was also a Dark Thorn leading them to boot.

"Oh come on!" Sora complained in annoyance of how many Heartless there were.

"Oh quit your complaining Sora! If you could kill a thousand Heartless by yourself, this should be nothing." Roxas retorted as he summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

Following up, Sora summoned Ultima Weapon and Ultima Edge. (AN: Ultima Edge is the Ultima Weapon from Kingdom Hearts with a different name so the two don't get mixed up. Sora wields Ultima Edge in his left hand).

Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace, and Naminé summoned Two Become One. Riku summoned Way to the Dawn, and Mickey summoned Kingdom Key D. Donald brought out Save the Queen as Goofy brought out Save the King. Leon drew his Revolver gunblade as Cloud drew his Fusion Sword, and Yuffie brought out her shuriken as Tifa readied her fists. Zack drew his Buster Sword, and Rinoa activated her Silenced Tear blaster edge, along with her own unique gunblade, Vanishing Star

(AN: Vanishing Star and Silenced Tear are weapons Rinoa wields in the fan-made movie series "Dead Fantasy").

* * *

_Play this music: Night of Fate - Kingdom Hearts _

* * *

The Dark Thorn turned and pointed at the group, commanding the Heartless to attack them. All the Heartless, on command, came charging in to attack them. Everyone leaped into the air to avoid incoming blasts from the Battleships. Sora landed on the ground, only to see a Battleship fired a cannon ball at him. He used a High Jump to avoid it, only to see there was another one heading for him.

Sora quickly used Aerial Dodge to avoid it, and at the same time landing on the Battleships deck. Flipping Ultima Edge backwards in his hand, Sora quickly stabbed the pirate captain figure in the middle, killing it instantly, and blowing up the ship. Sora jumped off beforehand and landed on the ground safely.

Roxas was quickly surrounded by a dozen Air Pirates. They all charged him at once. Roxas quickly jumped up and destroyed two with a slash from Oblivion. He quickly turned and stabbed Oathkeeper into one behind him before destroying another with Oblivion. As Roxas flew down, he threw Oathkeeper into the air. The spinning Keyblade slashed through the rest of the Air Pirates and flew back to Roxas's hand. Mickey wasn't having trouble at all as the Invisibles and the Angel Stars weren't able to keep up with him because of his agile movements. Two Neoshadows came up from behind, trying to get in a sneak attack. Mickey quickly spun around and sliced through the two Heartless with ease.

Riku was disposing of Soldiers with his Keyblade and his Dark Aura attacks. One appeared behind him and would have struck him, but a Blizzard spell launched by Kairi destroyed and saved it. Kairi swung Destiny's Embrace around and sliced two Soldiers in half, before spinning around and easily cutting down a Neoshadow and four Shadows.

A Battleship sent a cannonball at Sora's back, but Riku stopped it with his Dark Shield. Sora and Riku then gave each other a thumbs up. Naminé quickly jumped up and sliced the Battleship down the middle and destroyed it instantly.

Suddenly, a giant portal of darkness appeared on the ground, dispersing out a Darkside Heartless. "You gotta be kidding me!" Sora exclaimed seeing as they already enough problems to deal with. Riku quickly ran over to Sora's side.

"Let's take him down!" Riku told him. Sora nodded in agreement. They both ran towards the giant Heartless. It saw them and quickly brought its giant fist down at them.

Sora jumped over the fist and and began running up the Darkside's arm. The Darkside swung its arm around violently trying to shake Sora off. Sora jumped off and landed on the Darkside's shoulder. Riku quickly appeared on the Darkside's other shoulder. They used the first part of their Session Limit and delivered a series of powerful slashes and jabs to the Darkside's head.

Because of all the slashes they delivered, the Darkside lost it balance and fell down forwards. It suddenly got up and charged an energy ball in its hands. It quickly dispersed the ball into small dark energy balls that were targeting the two. Sora brought up a Reflera spell to protect them. Suddenly, Leon and Cloud appeared, and they activated a Limit they created.

Leon jumped up to the head and used Blasting Zone. His gunblade's blade was covered with orange energy that extended the blades length greatly. He attacked the head rapidly using a barrage of attacks similar to Sora's Ars Arcanum. After the final slash, Leon jumped down while Cloud jumped up, the two slapping each others hands as they passed each other.

Cloud was now on Darkside's shoulder. He summoned his energy and was surrounded by a fiery blue energy. He used Sonic Blade very fast going back and forth. Finally Leon jumped up as they both sliced down splitting the Darkside in half.

Rinoa used a Magnega spell and lifted many Shadows into it, destroying them in the process. Yuffie threw her shuriken which spun around like a tornado, destroying all the Heartless surrounding her.

Zack used is Limit Break, Blade Beam, and sent a blue blast of energy off his sword. The blast tore through three Large Bodies and one Soldier. A Wyvern came from behind and fired a ball of energy at him. Zack saw this out of the corner of his eye and jumped high into the air. He swung his Buster Sword down and sliced the Wyvern in half.

Rinoa quickly used her Angel Wing Limit Break. She casted multiple Thundaga's, Blizzaga's, and Firaga's which destroyed a great number of Heartless. Rinoa then used Rising Sun and sent her Blaster Edge at enemies slicing them directly in half. Donald used his Comet Limit and fired off a ring of magical sparks, easily destroying the many Large Bodies and Soldiers surrounding him and Goofy. Goofy used Goofy Turbo to knock a Neoshadow into the air before using Goofy Bash to destroy it.

Everybody was getting tired from using so much strength, so Aerith used Great Gospel on everyone. Tifa continued to whack enemies around with her fists, legs, and magic. A Large Body Heartless charged at Tifa, but she retaliated with Beat Rush and Somersault which destroyed it instantly.

Kairi and Naminé were destroying Soldiers, Shadows, and Neoshadows at a decent rate. One Large Body tried to run away, but before it could get away, Naminé used Strike Raid, and threw her Keyblade. The spinning Keyblade tore through the Large Body's back and sliced it in half. The Serendipitous Pair flew around and returned to her hand.

Now there were only a few Heartless left. Roxas jumped on a Wyverns back and grabbed the horns on its head. He used the Wyvern to direct him to the Dark Thorn. Roxas jumped off the Wyvern, and destroyed it with a Thundaga spell. He flew towards the Dark Thorn and swung his Keyblades at the Dark Thorn, doing a quick series of front flips to increase the hits.

The Dark Thorn swung its arm and smacked him away. Roxas used Aerial Recovery and regained his balance in the air. He summoned five of his 13 Beams and launched them at the Dark Thorn. The Heartless was only hit by three, and managed to dodge the other two. The Dark thorn then used its unique ability to turn invisible, but Roxas could vaguely see the Heartless's outline. It charged at him rapidly while spinning at very high speeds. Roxas used High Jump LV2, Aerial dodge LV2, and Quick Run LV2 to avoid them. He jumped in the air and smacked the Dark Thorn on the back with both of his Keyblades. The Heartless turned visible again and began stumbling from the major blow Roxas landed on it.

Sora!" Roxas called. Sora quickly ran next to him.

"Let's go!" Sora agreed. They activated their duo Limit called Keynado (AN: The name's a combination of key and tornado.). Roxas dismissed his Keyblades as Sora gave him Ultima Edge. They jumped in the air so they were facing diagonally down. They grabbed each others wrists and began spinning rapidly.

When they made contact with the Dark Thorn, it screeched loudly as it was being relentlessly assaulted by the two Keyblades. When the Limit was over, the Dark Thorn stood frozen in place. After two seconds passed, the Dark Thorn evaporated into a black mist. The others ran over to Sora and Roxas after the Dark Thorn disappeared.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

"Did you guys take care of the others?" Sora asked them.

"All taken care of." Riku answered for everyone.

"Now I get what you meant by what's happening across the worlds." Sora said as he observed the damage from the battle.

"Yeah. And I can tell it's only going to get worse. We'll be heading off to other worlds to take care of them. You guys should do the same." Leon told the party.

Sora's party nodded in agreement.

"I guess it's time for another adventure. Right?" Sora asked Goofy and Donald, who happily nodded in response.

"But this time," Kairi began as she walked in front of Sora, "We're coming with you."

"Yeah, we have to make sure you guys don't screw it up." Riku added in.

A small vein bulged on Sora's forehead as he shot Riku an evil glare. "Hey, what's THAT supposed to mean?-!" Sora exclaimed. Everyone else just burst out in uncontrollable laughter at Sora's reaction. Sora was soon laughing with them too. Sora suddenly gasped as he quickly realized something.

"Oh crap, that's right! We have to tell our parents!" Sora told Riku and Kairi. This shocked them as much as Sora. After the Heartless destroyed their world, Sora and Riku were gone for a year. And now, only a few months after their return, they would have to leave again.

"You guys go on ahead. We'll let your parents know." Cloud said.

"Thanks guys." Sora sadly said as he lowered his head with a upset face.

"Sora, remember what we promised," Donald said while waving his finger at Sora, "No frowning, no sad faces. Okay? This boat runs on happy faces!"

This reminder quickly pushed Sora's sadness back and replaced it with happiness. "Well, what are we waiting for?-! Let's go!" Sora cheered as he threw his fist in the air, and soon enough, his party returned the gesture. Sora's party quickly boarded the Falcon Peak and departed from Destiny Islands.

* * *

AN: Well, how's that for an improved starter?

_Read & Review_

_Your support is very much appreciated_


	2. The Three Keybearers

**Chapter 2 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**The Lanes Between**_

Sora and the others were cruising through the Lanes Between, deciding on what course of action to take. "So where should we go first?" Sora asked everyone.

"How about we go see Yen Sid first?" Roxas suggested.

"Good idea. Master Yen Sid may have some answers for us." Mickey added in. Roxas went to the controls and activated the Falcon Peak's Warp Drive. As soon as he did, the Gummi Ship suddenly started shaking wildly; everyone inside starting to have a hard time standing up.

"What's going on?-!" Naminé exclaimed as she grabbed something to hang on to.

"The Warp Drive's been cancelled out! We have to go though the gate to get to the world!" Sora answered while wobbling around in the shaking ship.

"Then let's go already!" Riku yelled. Roxas managed to regain his balance and reached for the controls of the ship; immediately activating the pulse thrusters. The Falcon Peaks' pulse thrusters kicked in and the Gummi Ship boosted into the World Gate. When the ship entered the dimension of light, it regained control and stopped shaking violently.

"I've got the front. Riku, Goofy, Donald, you guys take the sides and the back. Roxas, you take control of the ship." Sora ordered. The guys nodded and quickly headed to their stations.

"Let's go!" Sora exclaimed. The Falcon Peak quickly accelerated into the keyhole shaped portal of light, and into the Assault on Dreadnought Gummi track.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**Assault On **_**_Dreadnought_**

* * *

_Play this music: Battleship Bravery - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

When they entered, there were Cruisers and Mini-Cruisers flying around everywhere in the space-like dimension. Using the lock-on, Sora was able to easily shoot down ships as they zoomed by at intense speeds. Roxas flew down so that he was right on top of a Cruiser. Riku bombarded it with blasts from the cannons and destroyed it right when the Falcon Peak was about to pass it. A large number of Basic Knights suddenly appeared from the right and fired a large barrage of shots at the Falcon Peak. Roxas easily maneuvered the ship out of the blasts line of fire while Donald and Goofy returned fire.

There were a large group of Cruisers ahead, so Roxas maneuvered the ship to avoid crashing into the many white ships. A building was coming up ahead with an opening in it. "Hang on guys, we're going in!" Roxas said as he increased the output of the thrusters, which greatly accelerated the ship. Avoiding the incoming fire from the enemy ships, the Falcon Peak managed to reach the opening and entered the building. It was a narrow route where they were so Roxas had to keep the ship as straight in the middle as he possibly could.

At the end of the narrow route, the Falcon Peak entered a large room full of Basic Cyclops and Basic Bombers. They all fired rapid-fire shots at the Falcon Peak. Roxas had somewhat of a hard time avoiding the blasts since they were coming from all over because the Cyclops were also sticking to the walls and the ceiling. Sora, Donald and Goofy fired the ships weapons accurately, but it was hard because there were so many Cyclops and Bombers. An idea suddenly struck Riku's mind.

"Hey Roxas do a barrel roll!" Riku suggested.

"Okay!" Roxas acknowledged.

"Kairi, Naminé! Buckle up and hang on!" Roxas shouted back. The two quickly sat down and buckled up as Roxas started the barrel roll. It was a slow barrel roll, so Sora, Donald, and Goofy had enough time to take out the enemies on the left wall. After that, the Gummi ship turned upside down while slowly turning to the right. As it was turning, Sora fired the lasers and took out Cyclops on the ceiling four at a time. Afterwards, Roxas quickly moved the ship back to its normal position so Goofy could destroy the remaining enemies with the Blizzaga.

After that was done, a door opened up ahead that lead further into the building. Roxas decreased the speed of the ship so he'd have enough time to fit into the space. After about ten seconds of flying in the tight space, Roxas could see up ahead there was a opening that lead to the outside. Roxas quickly accelerated the Falcon Peak towards the opening to the outside. Once outside, Roxas looked to see the main building up ahead. "Let's finish this!" Roxas said as he flew the ship towards the building.

As the Falcon Peak flew towards the building, a new kind of giant Cruiser appeared and blocked their path. Sora pushed a button and fired a large number of missiles at the giant Cruiser. The many explosions caused by the missiles distracted the giant Cruiser as the Falcon Peak flew passed it. As it passed, Donald fired a larger missile at it which destroyed the giant Cruiser with its strong accelerated the ship into the main buildings opening. As it flew down the narrow path, doors began closing from the sides, the top, or the front. Roxas maneuvered the ship through the path as he avoided the shutting doors.

After avoiding the final door, the party found themselves in the room where the Core resided. Hundreds of Basic Knights and some Basic Phoenix's appeared. "I need you guys to hold them off. I'm gonna try something." Sora said as he left the main bridge. The others did as they were told and continued firing shots at the incoming enemies, waiting to see what Sora's big plan was. When a path was clear, Sora jumped onto the right wing of the Gummi Ship.

"What the hell is he doing?-!" Riku exclaimed as he saw Sora outside. Sora changed into his Limit Form and summoned Ultima Weapon. Roxas saw what he was doing and kept the Falcon Peak steady so Sora could pull off his plan. Sora activated Ragnarok and fired lasers off of Ultima Weapons tip at the Core. The blasts pierced through it and the Core slowly began to crack.

"Keep it up Sora!" Goofy cheered on. Sora nodded and continued firing Ragnarok lasers at the Core. With each wave of lasers, the Core cracked more and more until it looked like it was ready to burst. Sora quickly reverted back to his normal clothes and returned to the inside of the Gummi ship.

"Time to end this." Sora said as he aimed the Falcon Peak's lasers at the Core. With one final shot, the lasers pierced right through the middle of the Core and a light shined through the cracks.

"Quick Roxas, get us out of here!" Naminé shouted from the back. Roxas nodded and activated the Berserk mode of the Falcon Peak. Gold energy shined on the front of the ship as it accelerated to twice its normal speed. Roxas flew for the opening at got to the outside in three seconds flat. As bright lights shined from the main building, the gang saw the remaining groups of Cruisers and Mini-Cruisers fleeing from the coming explosion. The main building exploded and a giant wave of fire was sent towards the Falcon Peak. Roxas quickly boosted the Falcon Peak into the keyhole portal ahead. The keyhole closed behind the ship, saving it and the party from the fire wave.

* * *

_Stop playing the music here._

* * *

After everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Roxas proceeded to fly the ship towards the Mysterious Tower.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**Mysterious Tower**_

"Let's hurry!" Mickey said hurriedly.

The party ran towards the entrance and entered through the tower doors. They reached the top level of the tower with no problem at all, since most of the Nobodies were gone. They finally entered Yen Sid's study, and there in the chair, sat Master Yen Sid.

"Master Yen Sid, we must know what is happening around the worlds." Mickey said.

* * *

_Play this music: Magical Mystery - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

"Yes, of course my friend. It seems that the dark forces and the Heartless have returned, and it appears that they are more powerful than ever before. Such a force may blanket the universe in darkness." Yen Sid answered.

"Well, what are they after this time?" Riku asked.

"I am not exactly positive of what their objective is, but they are likely to be after Kingdom Hearts once again." Yen Sid answered.

"I'm not sure about that." Sora countered. "I mean, we locked the Door to Darkness, and there's no way they would've collected enough hearts to make Kingdom Hearts like the Organization did. Someone would've noticed."

"Indeed," Yen Sid agreed, "But regardless, you all must journey forth and defeat them."

"How exactly?" Roxas asked curiously.

"You see, inside each of the worlds Keyholes, there lies a sacred light, known as the Light of the World. In order to defeat your adversaries, you all must journey to the worlds, and collect the Lights that reside within them."

"What'll they do?" Goofy asked.

"You see, the stars have shown me that a dark energy has shrouded the worlds, causing a disruption within them, and allowing the Heartless to attack them. With the Lights, you will be able to destroy the new darkness that shrouds the world, and purify it. After that, you can use the Lights to stop whoever is responsible for these recent occurrences." Yen Sid answered.

"Sounds simple enough." Kairi said.

"But there is more I must tell you. After you obtain all the Lights, your clothes will obtain their ultimate form, the King of Hearts." Yen Sid said. Sora was surprised greatly at what Yen Sid just told him.

"So you're saying it's even more powerful than Final Form?" Sora hastily asked.

"Yes. To unimaginable degrees." Yen Sid answered with a nod.

"Whoa!" an amazed Sora said as he thought about how powerful it would be.

"I've also heard that there are three mysterious strangers wielding Keyblades that have been going throughout the worlds, destroying Heartless and Nobodies." Yen Sid told the party. Hearing the word _Keyblades_ quickly perked the party's interest.

"Who could they be?" Riku asked.

"That, you will have to find out on your own. Now, before you go, I suggest we give these young ladies some new traveling clothes." Yen Sid suggested.

"That sounds awesome!" Kairi and Naminé squealed in unison as they rushed to the fairies room so fast, that Sora and the others almost got blown away in a large gust of wind.

"Wow, those two really like to get new clothes." Sora said as he regained his balance from almost being blown away.

"Girls. What do you expect?" Roxas added in with his arms crossed.

* * *

_Stop playing the theme here._

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Now let's see what we can do for you two." Flora said. Kairi and Naminé walked behind two changing screens and removed their clothes.

"Ready!" the two called. All three fairies used their wands on the two at the same time. The two screens had a bright white light shining from behind them for a few seconds before fading. Kairi and Naminé soon walked out, absolutely stunned at their new outfits.

Kairi was now wearing a bright orange tank top with black, tribal, flower designs on the front and back. Along with that, she was wearing a pair of slightly baggy blue denim jeans, and on her feet were a pair of pink converse sneakers. As a final touch, she two sets of red, pink, and yellow bracelets on her wrists.

Naminé on the other hand, was wearing a white tank top that had a black dragon on the front and a silver dragon on the back, and the dragons tails were wrapped around her torso. Her jeans were black and skinny, and with two red stripes going down the sides. On her feet, were a pair of black converse, and she also had two sets of blue, black, and white bracelets on her wrists.

The two admired their new outfits with big smiles. "Thank you so much!" the two said as they bowed to the fairies.

"You're very welcome." Fauna replied.

"Come back any time for more." Merryweather added in. The two left the room quickly with their old clothes in hand.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the girls got back, Sora and Roxas were so stunned by their outfits they were drooling like water from a fountain. "What do you think guys?" the girls asked.

You look AWESOME!" exclaimed Sora and Roxas. The two girls hugged the two tightly while laughing at Sora and Roxas's reaction.

"Now, now, calm yourselves. There is still one more piece of information I must give you." Yen Sid said. The party immediately paid attention to Yen Sid to hear what he had to say.

"I've recently discovered that there are no longer seven Princesses of Heart, but eight." Yen Sid announced.

"WHAT?-!" everyone shouted, completely shocked at the news.

"Yes, I am just as surprised as you all are. It seems that who ever is controlling the Heartless and the Nobodies, may be targeting to capture her, as well as the other seven." Yen Sid inquired.

Sora wasn't going to let that happen, not on his watch. "So we've got to make sure all the princesses are safe, right?" Sora asked.

"Correct. Now it's best you all be off." Yen Sid said.

"Right!" the party all agreed as they saluted Yen Sid before leaving in a hurry.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they party boarded the Falcon Peak, they left for Olympus Coliseum as a start. When they arrived, they saw there was a dark aura surrounding the world.

"It's like with Radiant Garden." Sora said as he remembered Radiant Garden had that same dark aura surrounding it during his last adventure because of the Heartless army and the MCP attacking.

"We'd better hurry!" Donald suggested. The Falcon Peak flew over and entered the Phantom Storm Gummi route. As the ship traveled through the dimension of light, Sora, Roxas, Goofy, Donald, and Riku took their positions at the Gummi Ships controls. When they entered the keyhole of light, they entered the dimension of Phantom Storm.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Phantom Storm_**

* * *

_Play this music: Cloudchasers - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

The ship traveled through the green watery like dimension at high speeds, so everyone not at the controls sat down in a seat. From the upper left corner, a dozen Basic Knight Heads appeared and began firing shots at the Falcon Peak. "Hold on!" Roxas said as he maneuvered the Gummi ship out of the way of the blasts.

Sora quickly fired the lasers and cannons of the Gummi ship which instantly locked on and destroyed the enemies. More Basic Knights materialized which Sora easily took out like the last batch. The right alarm sounded, telling everyone that there were enemies to the right. The party could see the shadowed image of the Pirate Ship. Six Ghost enemies came flying from the shadowed ship towards the ship. Goofy fired the Blizzaga and the Graviga, taking out the Ghosts in one hit.

Another six flew towards the ship, but Goofy shot them down as well. The shadowed image of the ship vanished into the green water like walls of the dimension. As the Gummi ship continued on its course, more Basic Knights as well as two Rare Basic Knights materialized. Sora fired the Meteor as well as the Graviga taking the large group out quickly. Debris flew towards the Falcon Peak which Roxas evaded easily, despite the high speed the Gummi Ship was traveling at. Up ahead, the Gummi Ship was flying towards a dark abyss. After entering, it was nothing but pitch blackness.

A few seconds later, light returned to the party's view to see they were flying towards the Pirate Ship.

"Oh crap!" Roxas exclaimed as he pulled up the Gummi Ship before it collided with the Pirate Ship. It was a narrow escape from death right there.

"Alright, let's take this thing apart." Riku said as Roxas maneuvered the ship to fly next to the Pirate Ships port-side. As Roxas flew, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku began firing all the weapons at the Pirate Ship. The blasts started hitting the mini-cannons sticking out the side of the ship. After a large barrage of attacks, the cannons were destroyed and a large scorching hole was left in the spot they used to be. Sora charged the lasers to max power before firing them, blowing off the two spinning wheels on the left side of the Pirate Ship. Next, Roxas moved the Falcon Peak to the back which housed a slightly larger number of mini-cannons.

Roxas gently moved the ship out of the way of the mini-cannons blasts as Sora opened fire on the mini-cannons. They were no match for Roxas's evasive skills and Sora's accuracy. Next up, Roxas pulled around to the right side of the Pirate Ship. They repeated their attack on the left side and fired all their weapons at the mini-cannons while Roxas maneuvered his way out of the incoming shots. After about five seconds of bombardment, the mini-cannons of the Pirate Ship were destroyed. Next up, Roxas flew up so the Falcon Peak was right above the Pirate Ship. "Wanna give the new weapon a try?" Roxas asked Riku.

"I thought you'd never ask." Riku replied as he reached over for a lever. He pulled it and two doors on the bottom of the Falcon peak opened up. Out of the new compartment dropped a large white sphere. The sphere made contact with the deck of the ship and a large purple explosion was the result. All the cannons on the deck were destroyed as well as the deck being scorched black from the explosion. Sora turned on the comm-link and put Chip and Dale on the line.

"Yeah, Sora?" Chip asked.

"You know that new weapon you guys designed?" Sora asked.

"Yeah." Dale said.

"It works perfectly." Sora said.

"Alright!" the two shouted with joy before Sora deactivated the comm-link.

The front alarm went off and was also showing a large number of enemies headed for the party.

"Like that'll stop us." Roxas said with a confident smirk as he turned the Falcon Peak to face the enemies. A large number of Basic Knights and Grapplers materialized and flew towards the Falcon Peak.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, you guys ready?" Roxas asked. They nodded in response.

"Naminé, Kairi! You two are gonna wanna hang on tight!" Roxas advised. The two thinking_—_ no, knowing Roxas was about to do something very reckless, did as they were told and held onto their seats like their lives depended on it.

"Hang on!" Roxas said as the enemies began firing a large number of shots at the Falcon Peak. Roxas began doing a large number of three-sixty's which caused the ship to jerk around a lot. Naminé and Kairi were screaming loudly as Roxas laughed while swinging the ship here and there.

"ROXAS! I SWEAR IF WE GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE, YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Naminé shouted as the ship was still spinning everywhere.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku all fired the weapons as Roxas moved the ship out of the way of the incoming blasts. It a Grappler somehow got a hold of the ship, but Roxas's three-sixty's threw it off and it was destroyed by the incoming fire. Donald increased the rate of the lasers and the Blizzaga which increased the number of destroyed enemies. After they were all destroyed, Roxas turned to face the Pirate Ship, which opened up the front of itself to reveal the Skull underneath which is its weak spot. A large number of enemies were also heading for the Gummi Ship.

"Hey guys, care to test out that other new weapon?" Roxas asked.

"Fire away." Riku replied.

Sora smiled evilly as he anxiously rubbed his hands together. He pushed the button and activated the new weapon, Omega. Out of the Falcon Peak folded a large silver cannon that looked very high tech. White energy charged in the barrels mouth, and according to the Gummi readings, was reaching omega levels. Sora pushed the button, and the Omega cannon fired. A large blast of white energy fired from the cannon's barrel, which hit the Skeleton right in its mouth. The blast pierced right through it, and the Pirate Ship ceased movement instantly.

"Let's go!" Sora said. Roxas nodded, and activated Berserk mode. A burst of gold energy covered the front end of the Falcon Peak as it sped towards the Pirate Ship. It flew right through the ship through the hole made by the cannon. Many explosions began happening all over the ship before the whole thing split in half, and fell into the depths of the water like dimension, before exploding. The Gummi Ship flew out of the dimension and into the keyhole of light. After exiting the other side, the Falcon Peak flew into Olympus Coliseum.

* * *

_Stop playing the music here._

* * *

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Olympus Coliseum_**

When they arrived, they saw that the section outside the coliseum was in about the same condition then when the Hydra destroyed it. "How horrible." Kairi sadly whispered as she brought her hands over her mouth at the destruction all around.

"What could'a happened here?" Goofy asked as everyone walked along observing the damage.

"There must've been another attack." Sora answered.

"Hey guys, look over there!" Roxas exclaimed as he pointed in front of them. Hercules was lying on the ground, injured.

"Hercules!" Sora shouted as he and the others rushed over to his aid.

"Sora?" Hercules said as he raised his head.

"Don't talk Herc, you need your strength." Sora said as he kneeled in front of his injured friend.

"I c-can't. that boy's in trouble." Hercules said pointing back to the coliseum before falling unconscious. Meg, Phil, and Pegasus quickly came running over.

"Meg!" Sora said.

"You guys, go we'll take care of him." Meg said.

"Alright let's go!" Sora said. Everyone nodded and quickly raced off towards the coliseum.

When they got there, they saw a boy with an oddly shaped Keyblade lying face down. Cerberus was standing over him, ready to kill him. Cerberus quickly swung his middle head down, about to kill the boy. When its fangs would've made contact, his head suddenly stopped. It looked to see Sora used Ultima Weapon to block its mouth. Kairi and Naminé quickly ran over and carried the boy a safe enough distance away with Donald and Goofy covering them.

Sora quickly pushed Cerberus back with his brute strength. Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion before charging at the giant dog. Cerberus began spitting dark balls of energy out of his mouths that were locked on Roxas.

Roxas quickly used his Light Quick Run and began gliding across the ground at a fast speed with his body surrounded by a shining white light. He managed to dodged all of the blasts while sending his Light Beams at Cerberus.

Only a few Light Beams managed to hit before Cerberus jumped high into the air at Riku and Mickey. They jumped out of the way as Cerberus released at shockwave when it landed. Riku quickly jumped very high into the air and landed on Cerberus's back. He stabbed Way to The Dawn into its back, causing Cerberus to roar loudly in pain.

It span around at an intense speed, throwing Riku off its back violently. Riku flipped and landed on the ground safely. Mickey Pearl spells at the heads as he also added in a series of fast and agile swings. Cerberus retaliated against Mickey's attacks with dark balls. Mickey's great agility kept him from getting hit by the dark energy. Sora, not wanting to risk damaging the coliseum any further, activated his Limit Form.

He quickly activated his Ragnarok Limit, releasing a barrage of slashes on Cerberus before sending out energy blasts from the tip of Ultima Weapon. Every last blast homed in on the three heads. Each blasts contact caused one of the heads extreme pain.

Sora then activated Strike Raid, throwing Ultima Weapon and Ultima Edge at Cerberus multiple times. Riku began sending Dark Aura blasts at it while Goofy threw his shield at it and Donald struck it with Blizzaga, and Thundaga spells. Cerberus knew it was out numbered and couldn't take much more of this, so it ran away through the coliseum gates.

"Well that's that." Sora said releasing his Drive Form. The guys walked over to the girls and the boy with the Keyblade.

"Is he alright?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, he's just unconscious." Kairi answered.

"So he's a Keybearer too?" Naminé asked as she observed the Keyblade in the boys hand.

"Yeah, but look at that Keyblade's shape. It's so weird." Riku said. He was right. A normal Keyblade, compared the the boys Keyblade, was usually the size of a normal sword with a hand guard that covers both sides of the hilt, and a blade that was in the shape of a skeleton key with a Keychain attached to the bottom of the hand guard. The boys Keyblade was shaped much differently. The hilt and guard were positioned off from the blade, rather than aligned with it.

Due to this unusual design, the Keyblade was meant to be wielded in reverse. The blade, head, and teeth were dark gray and had golden seams engraved into them, three just above the guard, and one curving around the base. The blade itself was rounded and became thicker around the guard. The teeth vaguely resembled a bird wing, and also bore resemblance to the teeth of Two Become One, and the hilt and guard resembled the Kingdom Key's. The design of the Keyblade's Keychain token were two silver feathers twisted around a gust of wind.

"_Who is he?_" everyone wondered. The boy then began to stir.

"I think he's coming around." Naminé said. When the boy rose up, everyone gasped loudly when they saw his face.

Except for his clothes, he looked exactly like Roxas. "Um, why are you guys looking at me like that?" the boy asked.

"Oh, sorry about that." Sora replied as he laughed embarrassingly while scratching the back of his head. The boy gave a confused look at the party, not getting what they were so shocked about.

"Well anyway, thanks for saving me." the boy said.

"Sure, no prob." Riku replied.

"So, what's your name?" Kairi asked.

"Ventus, but you can just call me Ven." Ven answered

Ven looked and gasped when he noticed Roxas. "Hey, how come you look just like me?" Ven exclaimed as he pointed his finger at Roxas in shock.

"Um, I think this is just coincidence we look alike." Roxas answered.

"Sound the same too." Goofy added in.

Everyone else simply shrugged their shoulders. Roxas sensed something coming from behind at the party from the sky. Sora looked behind to the sky to see a Fire and Blizzard spell come flying towards them.

"Move!" Roxas shouted and everyone quickly ran, or jumped out of the way. Sora grabbed Ven as he and everyone else jumped out of the way. Ven was tired from to fighting Cerberus so he was too tired to dodge himself. The blasts collided with the ground and created two large explosions which kicked up a large sand cloud.

"Everyone alright?" Goofy asked as everyone got up slowly.

"Yeah." everyone else replied. When they all got up, they turned to see two Keyblade wielders in front of them. The one on the right was a tall young man with brown hair, blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin. He wore two intersecting red straps over his chest and on his belt was a badge just like Ven's and the girls, except it was gold. He also wore a skintight, black, high-collared shirt and his belt was tied like an obi-sash and hakama. His hakama were dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which were undone. The rest of his pants are tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem.

On his right wrist was a plain black wristband. On his left arm reaching all the way to the bottom of his hand was a long segment of dark brown, red, and gold. He also wore a black, fingerless glove on his hand and a black gauntlet on his forearm over the segmented armor, which also had small pieces of dark red armor on it. His armored boots were dark brown and gold. His Keyblade was very large. The blade was brown with tan outlines and had teeth on both sides of the blades tip, while the hand guard was light blue and the design was sort of wing-like. The Keychain at the end of the chain was a reddish rock fragment with brass armor-like plating.

The girl next to him had short blue hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. She also had a badge that she wore on her pink chest belts. On her arms were white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also had a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. On her legs, she wore black stockings, which reached to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. She also had two strips of blue cloth that drape over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner.

On her feet, she wore pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp hook on the outer side of each. In her right hand was a Keyblade with a thin dark blue blade. The weapons itself resembled Oblivion, though only somewhat in the case of the weapons shape. The hilt is silver and is separated from the shaft, while the teeth were jutting out in a rounded fashion. The Keychain links and token resembled water drops.

"You'd better let go of Ven right now if you know what's good for you." the boy threatened while pointing his Keyblade at the party.

"Hey, just wait a sec!" Roxas shouted back, but the two strangers charged towards the gang with their Keyblades ready. Roxas, Sora, Riku, and Mickey drew their Keyblades as they stood in front of the girls, Donald, and Goofy in defense.

"Alright fine, you asked for it!" Roxas exclaimed as he got into his dual wielding stance.

* * *

AN: Just to let you all know, the Gummi ships Berserk mode is the gold energy that appears on the front of the Gummi ship when you get your medal rank up to thirty.

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appereciated_


	3. A Big Misunderstanding

**Chapter 3 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**Olympus Coliseum**_

* * *

_Play this music: The 13th Struggle - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

The boy and the girl charged at Sora and the boys, who were ready for their attack. To make it easier, they split up into two groups of two. Sora went with Roxas, and Riku went with Mickey. The boy went after Sora and Roxas while the girl went after Riku and Mickey. The boy swung down his Keyblade on Sora, who blocked it with Ultima Weapon. He pushed the boy back and swung around with Ultima Edge.

The boy ducked under the strike and swung at Sora's abdomen. Roxas quickly came in from the side and deflected the strike which sent the boy sliding back. Roxas quickly ran up, and hit the boy a series of fast slashes with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Roxas then quickly jumped back before sliding forward with incredible speed, leaving a trail of white energy, and slashing with in an "X" form. The attack sent the boy into the air.

Sora quickly jumped up and swung down with both of his Keyblades. The boy saw this and quickly blocked the attack with his Keyblade. The force of their pushing was at an equal amount, but the boy quickly increased his force and gained an advantage over Sora. With a hard and powerful swing, the boy sent Sora crashing into the ground. Roxas jumped up and and swung Oblivion at the boy. The boy brought his Keyblade around and blocked the strike. He quickly pushed Roxas back and swung down hard. Roxas channelled his energy through Oblivion which caused the Keyblade to glow blue.

Roxas blocked the boys slash easily with his powered up Keyblade. Roxas pushed him back and sent him flying before throwing Oathkeeper at him. The boy swung his Keyblade down and smacked Oathkeeper away. The Keyblade flew down and stabbed into the ground. The boy quickly flew towards Roxas and swung his Keyblade horizontally. Roxas brought Oblivion to block, but the force of the hit sent Roxas flying, and crashing into the stands.

Riku swung at the girl with Way to the Dawn at very fast speeds. Unfortunately for him, the girl was dodging all of his swings with impressive evasive maneuvers. The girl slashed at one of Riku's swings which knocked him off guard. The girl slashed one more time, which Riku barely managed to block. The attack managed to send Riku sliding back. Mickey charged his Keyblade with his light magic which covered the gold blade with a shining white energy. Ha slashed at the girl who retaliated with swings of her own.

The two Keyblade warriors were at equal grounds, both dodging, blocking, and deflecting each others strikes. The girl made a surprise attack and sent Mickey flying back. Riku quickly ran towards the girl and swung horizontally. She jumped very high into the air over the strike. The girl flew down and swung her Keyblade. Riku easily blocked the strike, but the girl quickly spun around in the air, and kicked Riku across his face, knocking him to the ground.

Sora continued clashing weapons with the boy, but he was having trouble matching the physical strength of the older warrior. Roxas stood up from he destroyed part of the stands he was sent jumped down and ran towards Sora and the boy while picking up Oathkeeper with his left hand. Sora managed to deflect the boys strike and swung again, sending him into the air. Roxas jumped up and got behind the boy. He swung down and nailed him, sending him flying into the ground. Roxas landed next to Sora, ready for when the boys next attack was coming. The boy rose up quickly and charged Sora.

Sora used Guard with Ultima Edge, and blocked the strike. Roxas swung with Oathkeeper, but the boy jumped over the strike. In mid-air, the boy flipped, and brought his Keyblade down hard. Sora and Roxas quickly jumped out of the way as the Keyblade slammed down where they were standing. The boy quickly spun around and brought his Keyblade around. The strike hit Sora and Roxas, sending them flying and crashing into the ground. The girl deflected all the swings Riku and Mickey sent at her. She quickly cast a fire and Blizzard spell that caught the two off guard. The spells sent them flying, and crashing into Sora and Roxas.

* * *

_Stop playing the music here._

* * *

All four of them groaned from the pain they just felt. The boy and the girl charged in to finish the guys off, but stopped when Ven jumped in and stood between them, protecting Sora and his friends. "Stop guys! That's enough!" Ven shouted.

"Ven, why are you protecting them?-!" the boy demanded, confused at Ven's actions.

"These people aren't trying to hurt me." Ven responded.

"How can you tell?" the girl asked.

"If they were, they wouldn't have saved me." Ven counterted.

"He's right." Sora groaned as he slowly got up and cracked his neck. Now the boy and girl felt very foolish. They knew they could trust Ven so they dismissed their Keyblades, as did Sora and the others.

"I guess we jumped the gun there. Sorry for the trouble." the boy said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Please forgive us!" the girl pleaded as she bowed in apology.

"Eh, forget it. We're used to this kind of thing." Roxas responded as he got up.

"Are you guys okay?" Kairi asked as she and Naminé walked over.

"Yeah." Riku answered as he and Mickey got up.

"So Ven, how do you know these people?" Donald asked as he and Goofy walked over to.

"These are my friends. He's Terra and she's Aqua." Ven introduced.

"So what are your names?" Aqua asked.

"I'm Sora."

"Donald Duck."

"Name's Goofy."

"I'm Roxas."

"My name's Kairi."

"I'm Naminé."

"Riku."

"King Mickey, but you can just call me Mickey if you want."

Terra, Aqua, and Ven bowed in respect since now they knew they were in the presence of a king.

"By the way," Terra began as he stood up, "Have any of you heard of a man named Master Xehanort? He's a Keyblade Master."

Hearing the name, Xehanort brought shock to Sora's party, but they calmed down when they heard Terra say Keyblade Master. Xehanort, as well as his Heartless and Nobody, Ansem and Xemnas, weren't able to wield a Keyblade.

"Sorry, never heard of him." Riku said.

"So why are you looking for him?" Naminé asked.

"Because he disappeared a while ago. We were ordered by our master to find him and bring him back." Ven answered. This left Sora and the others in much wonder.

The ground suddenly began to shake.

"What's goin' on?-!" Goofy asked as he looked around for the source of the shaking. Black portals suddenly appeared on the ground which dispersed Gladiator Heartless and Dusk Nobodies. The Gladiator's drew their swords and summoned their shields as they got ready to fight.

"Should've seen this coming." Sora told himself while rolling his eyes.

"I got this." Terra said as he stepped forward. He jumped in the air while summoning Ends of the Earth. He flew down and smashed the blade against the ground, creating a shock wave that destroyed nine Heartless and three Nobodies. Terra quickly destroyed the other Heartless around him with strong, wide swings. Soldier Heartless then appeared from black portals. Sora quickly activated his Wisdom form. He began to destroy the Soldiers with the small blasts of blue magic that shot off from the tip of his Ultima Weapon. Large bodies, Shadows, and Neoshadows began to appear and charge at the group.

Sora quickly shifted into Valor form and used High Jump LV3 to fly over them. He charged up his energy and released a powerful downward slash before releasing a barrage of slashes. Aqua began casting Blizzard and Thunder spells, destroying incoming Neoshadows with ease. One snuck up behind her, but she sensed it and brought Stormfall around, slicing it in half. Aqua then performed a series of quick slashes which killed any Heartless that she cut.

Riku began using his quick slashes combined with his dark powers to bring down Soldier Heartless as they charged at him. A Large Body charged at him with its body, but Riku blocked the attempt with his Dark Shield. Riku quickly charged up his energy and fired a large Dark Aura, instantly destroying the Large Body. Several Shadows charged for Ven at once. Ven destroyed them easily with quickly slashes from Wayward Wind. Ven then used Strike Raid and threw his Keyblade, which sliced through a Neoshadow and four Soldiers. Kairi and Naminé began using Strike Raid in sync with each other while also casting Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells.

Roxas brought his Keyblades down and sliced through a Large Body before swing around Oathkeeper and decapitating a Neoshadow. Goofy used Goofy Turbo and Goofy Tornado to destroy any Soldiers or Neoshadows that approached.

Roxas finished off the rest with his Criss-Cross attack. With the enemies destroyed, everyone dismissed their weapons.

"So do you know anything about what's going on around the worlds?" Sora asked.

"Not really. We have been searching for the eighth princess for a while now. So far nothing" Terra answered.

"Hey, why don't you guys come with us. We could save the worlds and find the eighth princess faster." Sora suggested. Terra looked at Ven and Aqua, who gave him nods of agreement.

"Yeah, why not? Terra answered. A big grin quickly appeared on Sora's face.

"Alright!" Sora shouted with much happiness while throwing his fist in the air.

"By the way, why does your friend here look like Ven?" Aqua gestured to Roxas.

Everyone just shrugged their shoulders. "Beats me." Roxas answered.

"Doesn't matter. I think we should start with this world since we're already here." Terra suggested.

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora screamed with joy. They ran towards the black portal at the front of the entrance that led to the underworld.

* * *

AN: This is definitely the best Kingdom Hearts team up ever.

Also I found out on the Kingdom Hearts wikia that they have a list of names for Roxas's boss moves from Final Mix, so that's what I'm gonna use for his attacks.

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_


	4. Enter Hades and the Hydra

**Chapter 4 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

The party had entered the Underworld. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around to see that nothing had changed in the past three months. As they walked, Terra had looked to his right to see that there was a large arena at the far end of the dark lake with a demonic looking appearance and hellish flames.

"Hey, what's that?" Terra asked Sora.

"That's the Underdrome. That's where tournaments are held like in the coliseum up there." Sora answered.

"It looks scary." Kairi said while clinging to Sora's arm in fear of the demonic looking coliseum.

"Don't worry Kai, there's nothing to be scared of." Sora comforted, which made her feel better since Sora was the one who said it. She let go of his arm, feeling less scared than before.

"That's what you think, keyboy." a voice echoed that was all too familiar to Sora. Everyone looked ahead to see Hades standing in front of them.

"Hades!" Sora yelled, summoning Ultima Weapon to his hand.

"Now is that any way to greet someone you haven't seen in months?" Hades said in his usual joking tone.

"Yeah right! So what's the evil plan this time?" Sora said while staying in his battle stance.

"Before I tell you that, you should be more worried about yourselves." Sora was confused, but immediately began feeling very weak. Everyone, including Sora, was covered by a red haze and their faces full of fatigue.

"Sora, wh-what's happening?" Roxas weakly asked. The answer quickly hit Sora like a ton of bricks.

"The Underworld curse!" Sora exclaimed.

"That's right, and as I told you before, because of the curse, heroes are zeros. Comes with the territory." Hades said before he burst out in evil laughter.

"We've got to get the Olympus Stone!" Donald exclaimed.

"Oh, you mean this?" Hades asked as he held up the Olympus Stone in his hand.

"Hey, how'd you get that?-!" Sora shouted, but Hades just disappeared in cloud of flames and smoke, his laugh echoing everywhere.

"Gawrsh, Sora. What do we do?" Goofy worriedly asked.

"We've got to find Hades fast!" Sora suggested.

"Right." Roxas agreed as the party raced off into the Underworld after Hades.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The party had been searching for a while through the caverns of the Underworld. With no success, they returned to the Underworld entrance. "No good. He's not anywhere." Sora growled with much irritation.

"Think he's in the Underdrome?" Aqua asked.

"It's the only place we haven't looked." Roxas pointed out.

"Alright, let's go." Sora said. They all boarded a ship that sailed them all the way to the Underdrome.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they got to the Underdrome, they saw Hades sitting in his throne with the Olympus Stone in hand.

"I'm so glad you made it." Hades said to the party.

"Enough games already! Give us the stone, Hades!" Sora yelled.

"I could give you the stone," Hades started, "But first…"

"What?-!" Sora shouted in annoyance.

"You'll have to stop the Hydra, well... again," Hades said, brining shock to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, "I hear it's causing quite a mess up there. Probably worse than last time."

"What?-!" Sora exclaimed in shock, "But we defeated it!" Sora countered.

"Hey kid, if I were you, I'd chat less, and go now. I mean, you never know what kinds of... accidents, might happen." Hades replied. Suddenly, the top of the Underworld began shaking violently, causing rocks and stalagmites to fall from the ceiling.

"You'd better hurry." Hades said.

With no other choice, the party left the Underdrome and ran back up to the coliseum.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Play this music: Desire For All That Is Lost - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

When the party arrived at the coliseum, the skies turned dark, red clouds were covering the entire sky, and red lightning crackled and flashed everywhere. The Hydra was in front of the party except it had five times as many heads as before, plus another five making forty. Besides the purple heads, the others heads were different colors. Half of the new heads were red, while the other half were light blue.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Ven said bluntly at the massive beast standing before him. The heads suddenly all attacked at once. Everyone quickly scattered before summoning their weapons. Four heads began attacking Terra. He easily jumped over them and landed on ones head. He began running up the back of the neck as more heads were flying his way. He jumped over them while also managing to slash some heads off. To Terra's dismay, two more heads sprouted in the others place.

Roxas had landed on ones head, but it swung its head up and sent him flipping through the air. It then brought its jaws down trying to eat him. Roxas quickly used Oblivion to jam the jaws while he jumped up, and stabbed Oathkeeper right into the middle of its face, killing it instantly. Naminé was jumping from head to head while avoiding others that snapped their jaws at her. While on ones neck, she saw a red head coming straight for her. She used Two Become One to deflect it and then used Ars Arcanum to slice the head to pieces. Naminé quickly jumped out of the way as two more red heads sprouted from the neck.

Naminé then activated her Valor form. Her tank top turned crimson red while her pants turned black. The dragons on her tank top morphed into the Valor Form marks. The marks also appeared on the front of her pant legs, and the Winners Proof Keyblade appeared in her left hand. Several purple and light blue heads lashed out at Naminé. She quickly countered with Brave Beat, and slashed all the heads back with a strong spin slash. Naminé then used High Jump and jumped up to the heads that attacked her. She used Sonic End and slashed furiously at the necks, ending with a strong "X" slash. The attack slashed the heads away, only for twelve more to grow back.

Kairi was avoiding swinging heads, but one caught her by surprise and trapped her in its mouth. Before it could chew or swallow her, Kairi cast Firaga spell, and because of the intense heat, the head had to spit her out. "Gross!" Kairi said in disgust from what she just experienced.

Ven was having no trouble getting through the heads because of his high speed. He was slicing away heads and casting Thunder spells with ease. One head almost got him, but he spun around and split it in half down the middle of the mouth.

Riku stabbed Way to the Dawn into one head. As the Keyblade was still stabbed into the head, Riku used the head as a swing to fly up high. He ripped out Way to the Dawn when he reached a good enough height. A large number of heads came flying at Riku. he retaliated by unleashing a large number of powered up swings which sliced all the heads to pieces. Riku flew out of the way as the regrown heads shot out at him. Aqua had been using combos of slashes and spells to stop heads easily. Three heads came flying towards her from behind. Aqua jumped into the air over them as they passed. She quickly swung down with Stormfall and sliced the heads off, causing six more heads to grow back.

Donald was destroying heads with his Thunder and Blizzard spells while Goofy used Goofy Bash which took out heads easily. Finally, there was only one head left.

Sora was about to attack, but the Hydra surprised him with its extreme speed, and ate him. "Sora!" everyone cried as they saw the Hydra eat their friend. The Hydra swallowed him and was about to go for the others. Before it could take two steps, it felt a sudden pain in its stomach. Sora suddenly burst out from its stomach using Sonic Blade. The Hydra died and it fell to the ground hard, causing a small shake. The Hydra's body soon disappeared in a black haze. With the Hydra gone, the sky had returned to normal.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Everyone ran to Sora, who was covered in green blood. "Sora, are you alright?-!" Kairi worringly asked. Sora raised his head with a disgusted look on it.

"Bleh! That was so disgusting!" Sora exclaimed as he wiped the Hydra's blood off his face and clothes.

Riku just chuckled. "He's fine." Riku assured.

The party heard clapping behind them, and turned to see Hades standing behind them. "Bravo you guys, bravo. Ya know, you guys put on a much better show than Herc. We should go into business together." Hades said in his usual mellow tone.

"Enough of this! Give us the stone, Hades!" Sora shouted, his anger intensifying.

"Eh, alright. After all, I am a man of my word." Hades said as he threw Sora the stone before Hades disappearing into smoke and fire.

Sora activated the stones power and everyone was touched by the light, making them immune to the Underworld curse.

C'mon! We've got to find out what Hades is up to!" Sora said as the party ran back to the Underworld after Hades.

* * *

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_


	5. Great Battle on Olympus

**Chapter 5 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

The party returned to the Underworld with Hercules and the others to see Hades standing in front of them, clearly waiting for them. "So, Hades. What are you up to this time?" Sora asked as he got ready to summon his Keyblade.

"What do ya think key for brains? I'm after the Light of the World, duh. Jeez louise, for a Keyblade wielder, you're pretty slow." Hades mellowly mocked. The party immediately summoned their weapons.

"Not if we can help it." Roxas said. Hades only began laughing.

"How can you when you don't even know where it is?" Hades said. Sora knew Hades was right.

"But where else could it be?" Aqua asked. Suddenly, it struck Hercules.

"If it's not at the coliseum or the Underworld, then the only place it could be is..."

"That's right mr. true hero," Hades interjected, "Olympus."

"I should've realized sooner." Hercules said in frustration.

"Well, it's too late now. I've already sent an army of Heartless to Olympus, as well as the Titans. They'll destroy that place before you can help." a laughing Hades said as he turned around.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an appointment with Olympus." Hades said before disappearing in a puff of smoke and flames.

"Come on guys! We've got to get to Olympus now!" Hercules said.

"But how? Pegasus can't take us all?" Sora replied. Suddenly, a bunch of other differently colored Pegasus's flew in from the entrance and landed in front of them.

"I guess dad must've done this." Hercules said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ven excitedly said. Everyone quickly jumped on a Pegasus and rode out of the Underworld to Mount Olympus.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party arrived at Olympus, they saw the Titans were scaling up the mountain with the Heartless army Hades sent.

"There they are." Riku spotted. They saw the gods were fighting off the Heartless all they could. Terra looked to see Hades sitting on a floating throne while watching the fight.

"And there he is." Terra pointed in Hades direction.

* * *

_Play this music: The Deep End - Kingdom Hearts_

* * *

Hades looked up to see Sora's party all heading his way. "But how?-! That's it! Heartless, DESTROY THEM!" Hades commanded as his skin turned bright red and his flames turned orange and grew larger. The Heartless stopped attacking the gods and turned their attention to Sora and his friends. "Split up!" Donald shouted. They all did as Wyvern and Air Pirates began attacking them.

Roxas began sending Light Beams at Heartless coming at him. He destroyed a few Air Pirates with six Wyverns still on his tail. He had his Pegasus turn around so he was heading for them. Roxas began slashing through them with ease as they flew close to him. Kairi was having no trouble with her Air Pirates. As she was slicing through them two more and a Wyvern appeared behind her by surprise. Before they would hit her, they were destroyed by two Thundaga's. Kairi looked up to see Sora was the one who saved her. He blew her a kiss as he rode away which made Kairi giggled at her boyfriend.

Naminé was slicing through Wyvern's while using Thunder spells. She had used Strike Raid to kill enemies too far way from her Keyblade's normal range. Riku was destroying them with no problem at all. He destroyed Heartless faster with his Dark Aura spells. When one of the others was in danger Riku would protect them with his Dark Shield. A Wyvern flew straight towards him. Riku flew under it and raised Way to the Dawn, which sliced the Heartless perfectly down the middle as Riku flew passed it.

Mickey was using his Pearl spells to home in on the enemies. None could avoid them since they were too fast. He swung Kingdom Key D down and easily cut through an Air Pirate. Terra was using his Keyblade's long range to cut down Heartless as they flew at him. Terra quickly had his Pegasus do a one-eighty degree turn and fly towards a group of Air Pirates. He quickly launched a Fire spell and destroyed one Wyvern, before slashing quickly with Ends of the Earth and destroying the rest. Aqua began using their Blizzard and Thunder spells in unison with regular strikes to take down a big group of Wyverns.

Ven swung wide and destroyed two Air Pirates, only to see a Wyvern charge towards him. He jumped off his Pegasus and destroyed the Wyvern with several quick slashes from Wayward Wind. Ven's Pegasus caught him as Ven flew back down. When only a few Heartless were left, Sora tied together the chains of his Ultima Weapon and Ultima Edge together. He threw the Keyblade's which were spinning very rapidly because of the strength he used. The flying blades took down enemies one by one. When it destroyed the last one it came back to him like a boomerang.

When Hades saw the Heartless were wiped out he got really mad. His flames burned even brighter and his skin turned even more red. He charged energy into his hands and began throwing fireballs at the group. They all managed to avoid them and jumped off their Pegasus's, landing in front of Hades. Hades then suddenly disappeared from sight. Suddenly, he reappeared behind Sora and swung his flame covered hand at him. Sora brought Ultima Edge around to block it. He spun around swinging Ultima Weapon, but Hades disappeared again.

He reappeared in front of the group and began throwing fireballs at them rapidly. They all used Guard to block or deflect them. Terra jumped forward and slashed down, but Hades blocked the strike with his left arm. He grabbed Terra by the neck with his right hand and threw him, violently sending Terra flying back. Roxas quickly charged at Hades, both Keyblades ready. Hades immediately charged energy into his hand and sent a large fireball at Roxas. Roxas easily destroyed it with a swing from Oblivion. He then swung Oathkeeper at Hades, but Hades glided back.

Ven jumped forward and slashed wide. Hades dodged the strike and used energy built up into his hands to push Ven back. Ven and Roxas charged at hades at the same time. Hades struck them both back with his hands. He suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of them. Flames burst forth from his hands on the two which covered them entirely.

Hades laughed triumphantly as he thought he had incinerated the two Keyblade warriors, but noticed a blue glow shining from beneath the flames. He stopped to see a Reflect spell was covering them. The shield exploded, sending Hades flying back. The two charged Hades again, but Hades smacked them back. Hercules ran over and threw a series of punches which greatly effected Hades. he finished his combo of punches with a strong uppercut which sent the God of the Underworld flying. Hercules then summoned two balls of light energy which Sora smacked with his Keyblades. The balls of light hit Hades and zapped him with their light energy.

Kairi and Naminé quickly ran over and attacked. They both slashed though Hades blocked both strike with his arm and sent them flying back with a fire attack. He knocked Donald and Goofy back, and then he did the same to Sora. Aqua used a powerful Blizzard spell, but somehow he deflected it and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up, causing her to drop her Keyblade. She grabbed his arm, trying to remove it, but to no avail. You're coming with me, little bluebird." Hades smirked as he tightened his grip on her throat.

"I don't think so!" Sora yelled as he jumped and slashed Hades arm. Hades screamed in pain as he released Aqua from his grip. Aqua was coughing while taking strong intakes of breath. Sora began attacking Hades as Kairi and Naminé ran to Aqua.

"Are you alright?" Namine asked.

"Y-yeah_. _Just need to catch my breath." Aqua answered.

Sora was still pushing Hades back and Hades had no way of countering. Sora quickly turned into Final Form and began attacking with his floating Keyblades rapidly with a combination of light powers. Hades threw a volley of fireballs at Sora. Sora spun rapidly with his Keyblades around him. The spinning Keyblades easily sliced through the fireballs. Sora quickly cast a large Blizzaga. The enhanced spell struck Hades and badly hurt him. "Hey! I could use some help here!" Hades shouted to the Titans. The Titans turned their attention to the Keyblade wielders and marched towards them.

"Just great." Roxas complained, seeing what they were up against. The Rock Titan brought its fist down on Roxas. He jumped to the side as the hand smashed down. Roxas then jumped on its hand began running up the arm while dragging his Keyblades, leaving long, but narrow cuts in the rocky arm. The Rock Titan swung its left hand at him. Roxas dropped down on its arm and stabbed Oblivion into its hand bringing him with the swinging hand.

The Titan quickly slammed its right hand into its left crushing Roxas. Suddenly it felt immense pain in its right. It quickly brought back its right hand to see Roxas had stabbed Oathkeeper into its hand causing cracks. Roxas pulled Oblivion from its left hand and dropped back down. "Sora!" Roxas called.

"Right!" Sora agreed as the two quickly ran behind the Rock Titan. They both charged at a legs and swung their Keyblades at the back of both knees, causing the Rock Titan to fall forwards onto the ground. The Ice Titan began shooting shards of ice from its mouth at the party. Kairi dodged them and used Strike Raid. Destiny's Embrace tore through the ice shards and sliced the Ice Titans face. It roared in pain as there was now a diagonal slash across its face. The Ice Titian brought its hands to it face to nurse it wound while stumbling around. Naminé focused all of her power into Two Become One. When enough energy was built up, she sent a massive Firaga at the Ice Titans feet. The intense heat melted the Titans feet making it fall forwards.

Terra leaped in the air and smacked the Titan in the face with Ends of the Earth, causing the Titan to fall backwards. Hercules jumped up and landed a powerful blow to the Ice Titans's chest, sending it crashing into the ground.

Now the Lava Titan began attacking. Sora slashed at it with his Keyblades, but they seemed to have no effect at all. "Alright then, try this!" Sora exclaimed as he sent a Blizzaga at the lava Titan. The ice blast simply melted because it was too small and not cold enough to effect it. Riku and Mickey fired Dark Aura's and Pearl attacks at it, combining both the powers of darkness and light. Still it seemed nothing effected the Titan in the least. It began laughing as it spat waves of lava at everyone. Roxas cast a powerful Reflega to cover everyone. An idea struck Sora's head as the lave flowed around the Reflega. When the Reflega disappeared, everyone pointed their weapons at the Lava Titan. They focused all their energies into their weapons and sent the biggest Blizzard spells they could at the Lava Titan. The flying Blizzard's merged into one to form a super large Blizzaga.

The Lava Titan shot lava from his mouth to melt the blast. The two blasts were at a stale mate as neither seemed to be weakened. "We need more power!" Goofy called.

"I'm on it!" Sora said. He dismissed his Keyblades and summoned Kingdom Key to his hand. He then summoned his power from within him and focused it throughout his Keyblade. He pointed the Kingdom Key so it was facing the Blizzaga. He fired the biggest Blizzaga his power could conger. But the strange thing was, this Blizzaga was surrounded by an aura of light. When it combined with the other Blizzaga, the original Blizzaga grew three times its normal size and was surrounded by the same aura of light as Sora's Blizzaga. Because of the extra power, the spell tore through the lava and was heading straight for the Titan. When it connected, the Titan was covered in a giant ice block freezing it completely.

Now only the Tornado Titan was left. It sent its tornado like arms at the group. The others got away, but Sora was sucked into them and was trapped inside of the Tornado Titan. "Sora!" Kairi cried as she saw Sora get sucked into the giant monster. The Tornado Titan began laughing, but then began groaning in pain. It looked at its stomach to see the blade of Ultima Weapon penetrated it's abdomen from the inside. Sora slashed hard with Ultima Weapon, blasting out of the Titan, and landing before the party. He noticed both Ultima Weapon and Kingdom Key were both glowing with a light aura, just like his spells. "What is this?" Sora said as he examined his glowing Keyblades.

"Well whatever it is, I think it's a good sign." Riku said. The Tornado Titan advanced on the group.

"Alright, let's see if you're right, Riku." Sora said as he raised both Keyblades in the air. He cast a Magnega, but this one had an aura of light surrounding it just like the Blizzaga from earlier. The Tornado Titan was being drawn in from the immensely strong pull of the spell. The other Titans were also being drawn in as well. When they were all sucked into it, Zeus suddenly appeared behind Sora.

"Let me handle the rest." Zeus said. Sora nodded and he backed away. Zeus summoned the jail he had previously trapped the Titans in. The Magnega floated over above the prison, and disappeared. The Titans fell back into their dark prison, hopefully this time for good.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Hades saw this and was scared. He turned to see everyone standing in front of him, and the gods looked pretty mad. "Oh come on guys I was just messing around. I-I wasn't actually trying to take over I was just... uh... I'm outta here!" Hades said before he disappeared.

"Well, I'm sure glad that's over." Mickey said.

"Yeah," Sora agreed, "But that was only the beginning."

"We still have a long road ahead of us." Riku said.

"Well, as long as we're with each other, we'll make it through." Goofy assured. Everyone nodded in agreement.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Later, the gods were celebrating their victory with Hercules and Sora's group.

"So, Sora, are you guys leaving again?" Hercules asked.

"Yeah, but we'll come back." Sora answered. Suddenly, the Kingdom Key appeared in his hand. Sora knew this meant something was going to happen, so he held the Keyblade out in front of him with both hands and closed his eyes to focus. A light shined around the Kingdom Key, and the glowing crown symbol appeared around Sora's feet. A strong wind blew around Sora and a twilight mist covered the area. From the Lobby in the Coliseum, a bright light shined from where the Keyhole was. The light shot into the sky towards Olympus. The beam of light appeared above Sora in the shape of a Keyhole.

Sora jumped back and pointed Kingdom Key at the Keyhole. A beam of light shot off from the tip of the Keyblade into the Keyhole. When it retracted slightly, a glowing white orb was attached to it. Sora pulled back hard with his arm and pulled the orb out of the Keyhole. The beam of light disappeared and the orb came flying towards Sora. When it touched Sora, a bright light shined from him as the orb merged with his Drive clothes, and his heart. With this done, the Keyhole, and twilight mist disappeared.

"So that was the Light of the World?" Donald asked.

"I think it was. How do you feel, Sora?" Roxas asked.

"Well actually, I feel kinda stronger." Sora said.

"Here Sora. Before you go take this." Zeus said as he gave Sora a Keychain. The token's design was of a gold cloud with a gold lightning bolt coming from it like the picture on the Olympus stone.

"Thanks." Sora said.

"Well, I think we'd better get going and find the rest of the Lights." Mickey said.

"Yeah." Sora agreed as everyone left on their Pegasus's. The Gods were waving goodbye and Zeus wished them safe journey.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Play this music: Xehanort - Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep_

* * *

As the party headed to the world gate, Master Xehanort and Vanitas appeared from the shadows, watching them. Their eyes were focused on Ven.

"You still think that little wimp can match my strength?" Vanitas asked his master s he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed.

"We can only wait to see. If young Ventus does grow in power, he will serve his purpose. If not, we will just have to find another suitable candidate." Master Xehanort answered.

"You mean Sora or Riku?" Vanitas questioned, "Unless they ditch the darkness in their hearts, they'll be of no use to us. But, maybe those four would work as good backups." Vanitas said looking at Roxas, Kairi, Naminé, and Aqua. "I can sense it inside them, hearts devoid of darkness."

"Then perhaps young Sora and Riku can be of use for _my _plans. As for those five, we'll just need to make sure they grow strong enough to be equal to you. We shall continue to observe and guide them." Master Xehanort said. He opened a Corridor of Darkness and left with Vanitas right behind him.

* * *

AN: That's one Light down, and many more to go.

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_Your support is much appreciated_


	6. The Rainy Desert

**Chapter 6 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

**_The Lanes Between_**

The party was now back in space on the Gummi Ship. "Well that was fun." Ven sarcastically said.

"Hey guys, look!" Naminé alerted as she pointed out the window of the Gummi ship. Everyone looked to see what she was pointing at. The dark aura around Olympus Coliseum disappeared and it was now surrounded by an aura of light.

"So the world's been saved from darkness?" Sora wondered.

"It sure looks like it." Mickey agreed.

"So where should we go next?" Goofy asked. Suddenly, something caught Kairi's attention.

"Hey, look at that!" Kairi pointed out. Everyone turned and looked to where she was pointing at. Agrabah, normally a hot desert world, was now surrounded by a dark aura, and rain was pouring onto it.

"Well, that's... odd." Terra said, slightly leaning his head to the right in confusion.

"Let's check it out." Donald suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Roxas flew the Falcon Peak to Agrabah.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**Agrabah**_

When the party landed in Agrabah, they were in the Market Place. Rain was falling heavily on the group, soaking like crazy. "Donald, can't you do something?-!" Kairi complained as she began shivering.

"Alright, alright, just hold on a minute!" Donald shouted as he brought out Save the Queen. He shot balls of light in the air. They floated down and touched the party. When the light cleared, everybody was wearing black coat, or more specifically, the same coats worn by Organization XIII. So that Roxas and Ven wouldn't be confused with each other, Ven had a dark silver coat while Roxas wore the standard black coat.

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting this, but I'll take it." Sora said while checking out his coat.

"We should probably go to the palace. They might be able to tell us what's happening." Donald suggested. Sora nodded as the party made their way to the palace. Suddenly, a Dark Firaga spell was sent at them. Everyone quickly jumped out of the way of the spell as it struck the ground, leaving a large scorch mark in the ground. Everyone looked up to where the spell came from to see Vanitas standing at the top of a building.

"Who're you?-!" Sora shouted.

"None of your concern. I came just want to see how strong you guys are, but lo and behold, I just see you're all a bunch of weaklings." Vanitas mocked.

"You looking for a fight?-!" Ven yelled as he was about ready to summon his Keyblade.

"Hmph, I was, but I think I'll wait until you guys get strong enough to put up a decent fight," Vanitas said as a Corridor of Darkness opened behind him and he turned around. "Just make sure you all don't die until then." Vanitas said as he walked through the Corridor. The dark portal closed behind him once he was through.

"Who was that guy?" Kairi wondered.

"No time to deal with him now. We'd better get going, there's no time to lose." Roxas said. The party continued on their way to the palace.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they reached the gate that lead to the inside of the palace, there were two guards with spears blocking their way. "Halt!" the guards yelled pointed their spears at them.

"Wait, we're friends of Princess Jasmine!" Sora reasoned.

"That's what they all say. The palace is forbidden to entrance." the right guard said.

"Leave at once, or face the consequences for trespassing on royal ground." the left guard added in.

"But you've got to believe us!" Donald protested.

"That's enough!" a voice behind the guards said. The guards turned to see Princess Jasmine standing at the palace doors.

"Your highness!" the guards said as they both bowed before her.

"These strangers claimed to be friends of yours." the right guard said as he pointed his spear at Sora and the others.

"They are friends. Let them in." Jasmine replied. The guards hesitantly moved aside as Sora and the others walked through.

"Let's get you guys inside." Jasmine said as she lead them inside. When the party entered the palace, they found themselves in the Grand Hall, leaving everyone was in awe at how grand everything looked.

Suddenly, the sound of animal growling came from their left. They all turned to see a tiger next to them. The tiger jumped at Sora and pinned him to the ground, scaring Sora scared out of his mind. However, the tiger began licking his face and he calmed down.

"Sorry, Sora. This is my friend, Rajah. He was just playing with you" Jasmine assured.

"Oh." Sora replied as Rajah got off him, allowing Sora to get up.

"So, why are you here?" Jasmine asked. Sora explained to Jasmine everything that had been happening around the worlds and their reasons for being there.

"So maybe that explains the strange weather." Jasmine wondered.

"Yeah, and we've got to stop it." Sora said.

"Well, you should probably get some rest first. You're probably exhausted and hungry." Jasmine said.

"No need, we're-" Sora began, but was cut off by everyones stomachs growling all at once. Everyone just started laughing with red on their faces.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After eating, the party was now sleeping in two different rooms in a hallway. The boys were on the right side, while the girls were on the left. Everyone else was sleeping soundly, but Aqua, on the other hand, wasn't at all. She was groaning and constantly turning in her sleep as she was having a nightmare... or a vision.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Aqua's Dream_**

In her dream, she was in a large desert. The sky was dark and there was a large cliff in front of her that just about reached the sky. The area was surrounded by a large number of Keyblades which made the place seem like a graveyard. She noticed she was wearing a suit of armor. Terra, who was also in armor, lay beneath the cliff, wounded with his Keyblade next to him. Aqua looked up to see Master Xehanort and Vanitas at the top of the cliff. Master Xehanort was holding an armored Ven above the ground by his head.

_"Ven!"_ Aqua cried.

Aqua gasped as Xehanort used a spell to freeze Ven's body solid. He dropped the frozen Ven off the cliff, who plummeted to the ground very fast. As he fell, his frozen helmet shattered against the cliff side. Aqua quickly ran over and caught Ven's frozen body before it collided with the ground. After she stopped sliding across the ground, Aqua cradled Ven as she checked if he was okay, her face filled with worry. His eyes were trying to focus on her, telling her he was still alive, but unable to move.

Aqua looked up at the top of the cliff to see Master Xehanort convert his Keyblade into a dark orb, and fired it into the sky. As soon as it hit the sky, the clouds split apart, and a gigantic blue heart was floating in the center of the sky, the dark clouds circling around it. Aqua gasped as she looked up at the heart._ "It can't be."_ Aqua said as she realized what the heart was.

With that, her dream ended.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Aqua woke up sweating and panting very hard. She placed a hand on her head as she calmed herself. "_What was that?_" Aqua asked herself. The dream she just had seemed more like a vision. Suddenly, she heard an echoing voice in her head calling to her.

"_Come to me._" the voice repeated over and over. She got up and put on her coat to find out what it was in case it might be whoever's responsible for the mess the world's in. She quietly left the room and exited the Palace. After exiting the city, she stared towards the rainy desert to find the source of the mysterious voice.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sora awoke several minutes later as he felt someone shaking him. He yawned before opening his eyes to see Kairi with a worried look. "Kairi, what's wrong?" Sora asked as he sat up.

"Sora! Aqua's gone!" Kairi answered.

"Huh?-!" Sora gasped, now fully awake, as were the others.

"You sure?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. When I found out she left, I was waiting for ten minutes for her to come back, but she didn't. I went to find her, but she wasn't anywhere in the palace." Naminé added in.

"You don't think someone kidnapped her do you?" Riku asked.

"Come on, let's go find her!" Terra called. Everyone put on their coats and left after Aqua.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Aqua was walking through the desert while following the mysterious voice calling out to her. She stopped in her tracks as a mysterious figure appeared before her. It was none other than Jafar. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person my dear." Jafar greeted as he bowed.

"Who are you?" Aqua asked as she was ready to summon Stormfall.

"My name is Jafar, but enough with the introductions. It's time for you to come with me." Jafar said as he used his snake staff to try to hypnotize Aqua.

"Huh?" Aqua leaned her head to the right in confusion. "Seriously? Hypnosis? Is that the best can do?"

"What?-! Jafar gasped in shock, "Resistant to my powers?"

"That's enough, Jafar!" Sora shouted as he jumped high into the air, and launched a Firaga from the Kingdom Key at Jafar. Jafar jumped back as the Firaga hit the spot where he was standing.

The party stood in front of Aqua to defend her from Jafar. "I seethe street rats return with even more street rats." Jafar mocked.

"Terra, we'll hold him off! You get Aqua back to the palace!" Sora ordered.

"Right!" Terra replied. Terra summoned Ends of the Earth and threw it in the air. The Keyblade transformed into its Keyblade Glider form and flew down next to Terra. Terra jumped on and quickly pulled Aqua up, sitting her behind him. Aqua wrapped her arms around Terra's waist as the Keyblade Glider boosted off towards the palace.

"Move aside!" Jafar demanded.

"No way in hell that's happening!" Riku replied.

"You filthy street rats!" Jafar shouted as he charged at the party. Sora charged and struck first with the Kingdom Key, but Jafar disappeared in a red smoke before the blade could connect.

"Where'd he go?" Ven asked.

"Dunno, but we should get back to the palace." Sora suggested and everyone quickly ran back to the palace.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the rest of the party got back they quickly headed for the girls bedroom.

"Hey, Aqua, you alright?" Ven asked.

"No worries Ven. Whoever that man was, he was a complete joke." Aqua smiled as she gently ruffled Ven's hair.

"But why was he after you, Aqua?" Naminé asked.

"Who knows." Aqua answered. Suddenly, a dark presence was felt throughout the palace as all the light in the building suddenly disappeared..

"That's not good." Riku said.

"They must be comin' after her again!" Goofy alerted.

"Alright, we should have four people stand guard outside the room." Sora suggested. He volunteered, as well as Roxas, Donald, and Goofy.

The foursome stood outside the room as the others watched over and guarded Aqua in the room.

They'd been standing there for about half an hour so far with no sign of an attack. They headed back into the room to see if anything changed.

"I wonder why nobody's attacked so far?" Naminé wondered.

"They're probably waiting for the right moment." Ven answered. Suddenly, a strong wind began picking up outside. Everyone rested their hands on their weapons in case of an enemy attack. A large arm suddenly punched through the wall. Everyone brought their arms up to shield themselves from flying parts of the wall.

The arm quickly pulled back and made the hole even larger. When the dust cleared, the party saw Kurt Zisa standing outside the wall. "What?-!" Sora said in shock as he remembered defeating the giant Heartless with Donald and Goofy on their first adventure. Kurt Zisa reached in to grab Aqua, but Kairi jumped in the way and it grabbed her instead. "Kairi!" Sora cried out as Kurt Zisa pulled Kairi through the hole in the wall. Sora quickly rushed to the hole and looked out to see Kurt Zisa flying away with Kairi towards the desert.

"Roxas, Riku, let's go!" Sora called, "You guys stay here in case another enemy comes!"

The party nodded in agreement. Sora, Roxas, and Riku jumped through the hole and quickly ran after Kurt Zisa.

Jafar was floating a good distance away and witnessed what just happened. "Excellent. They fell right into my trap." Jafar said with delight as he flew towards the Palace after Aqua.

* * *

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_


	7. Never Get Girls Angry

**Chapter 7 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

Sora, Roxas, and Riku were still chasing after Kurt Zisa into the desert. It was pretty easy keeping up with the giant Heartless. Maybe too easy. Suddenly Kurt Zisa stopped running and turned to face the Keyblade warriors. Sora, Roxas, and Riku quickly summoned their Keyblades to their hands.

Kurt Zisa brought Kairi out and began to squeeze her. Suddenly Jafar's shadow appeared next to Kurt Zisa's head. "_Drop your weapons, or this girl will meet her demise!_" Jafar's shadow said. The guys didn't want to put Kairi's life in danger, so they dismissed their keyblades.

"Let Kairi go now!" Sora demanded.

Kurt Zisa brought its arms down on the guys. They quickly jumped out of the way as the giant arms slammed into the ground. Kurt Zisa continued attacking with its other five arms and the guys continually dodged the arms. When the huge amount of dust cleared, it saw Roxas disappeared. "_What?-!_" Jafar's shadow exclaimed, surprised.

"Roxas now!" Sora called out.

Roxas appeared behind Kurt Zisa. He levitated his two Keyblades the same way Sora did in Final Form. He threw the two Keyblades at the hand that was holding Kairi. The flying weapons sliced Kurt Zisa's hand. Kurt Zisa quickly opened its hand and dropped Kairi as it grabbed its wounded hand in pain.

Kairi fell to the ground. Sora slid forward and grabbed her just in time. "It's alright Kairi, you're safe."

"My hero!" Kairi wrapped her arms around Sora's neck and kissed him.

"Hey, Sora! Less kissing, more Heartless killing!" Riku called over as he and Roxas were dodging Kurt Zisa's blades. Sora helped Kairi get to her feet and the two summoned their Keyblades.

* * *

_Play this music: The Deep End - Kingdom Hearts_

* * *

"_Destroy them_!" Jafar's shadow ordered Kurt Zisa as it disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.

Kurt Zisa advanced on the Keyblade wielders and summoned four more swords into its four empty hands, giving it a total of six blades now. Roxas sped towards Kurt Zisa using his Light Quick Run. Kurt Zisa attacked the speeding Roxas with its six blades. Roxas jumped over the first two blades as they crashed into the ground in front of him. He slid around the third blade and went passed the fourth blade before it made contact with the ground. The fifth and sixth blades came down faster than Roxas would have time to dodge. Taking advantage of the blades design, Roxas jumped and flew through the holes at the top of the blades.

He quickly got behind and slashed at one of Kurt Zisa's legs, causing it to fall on one knee. Riku landed a powerful blow on its chest with Way to the Dawn, making the giant Heartless fall back. The party charged to attack, only for Kurt Zisa to extend its snake head and strike at them with great speed and ferocity. The party quickly split up to confuse the snake head. Roxas used his Keyblades to deflect and bat the head away as it lashed at him. Roxas quickly flew out of the way as Kairi launched a Firaga at Kurt Zisa's head.

The spell made contact and created a large explosion. The head rose up from the hot smoke, only to see Sora and Riku come flying down. The head quickly lashed towards Sora. Riku used Dark Shield which blocked the heads attack as Sora flew around the shield towards the body. Sora stabbed the Kingdom Key into the the chest of Kurt Zisa's body. The Heartless howled in pain and the head instantly retracted into the body and Kurt Zisa rose up. It grabbed Sora with one of its hands and threw him back. Kurt Zisa picked up its blade and jumped into the air while covering itself in a large sphere. It began floating around the area while launching powerful spells at the party.

While they were able to avoid them, the spells came pretty close to hitting them. Kurt Zisa turned its attention to Sora and waved the tip of one of its blades at him. A strong wind picked up around Sora. "What the?" Sora said as four tornadoes appeared around him. The tornadoes slammed into Sora and merged to form one large tornado. Sora was sent flying into the air as the tornado disappeared. Kurt Zisa then turned its attention to Kairi.

It pointed the tip of another blade at Kairi and launched purple balls of energy at her. Kairi slashed through the energy balls with rapid succession. Kurt Zisa continuously fired energy balls at Kairi, who deflected and slashed through them with what seemed like no end in sight. Riku quickly stabbed Way to the Dawn into the top of the barrier, getting Kurt Zisa's attention. Kairi took the opportunity of the distraction and sent a Thundaga at the barrier, which only managed to crack it. Before Kurt Zisa turned its attention to Kairi, Roxas came down on the barrier with his Keyblades, only for them to bounce off its surface.

Kurt Zisa created Firaga spells at the tips of all its blades and launched them at Roxas. Roxas flew back as the Firaga's were in pursuit. Roxas slashed through a Firaga with Oblivion, and another with Oathkeeper. He dodged the third and destroyed the fourth with Oathkeeper. He tried to blocked the final two, but their power was too much and the explosions on impact with the Keyblades sent Roxas flying. Sora and Riku flew down and stabbed their Keyblades into the crack on the sphere, shattering the whole thing and sending Kurt Zisa crashing to the ground.

Kurt Zisa quickly rose to its feet, only to see Roxas appear in front of it. He activated his Overtaker ability (AN: The reaction command Roxas uses against Axel when he fights Axel in the mansion basement). He leaped forward and repeatedly attacked Kurt Zisa with his Keyblades as they flew through the air. When the Overtaker, was over Roxas was floating in the air above Kurt Zisa. He quickly finished it up with Clear Light. He slammed Kurt Zisa into the ground, and beams of light shot from the ground, piercing Kurt Zisa. Kurt Zisa was now paralyzed and vulnerable for attack.

Kurt Zisa swung its swords at the party as they attacked it, but its efforts were in vain as the party members manged to dodge its sword attacks while still managing to land blows on its body. Kurt Zisa quickly recovered and jumped a far distance away. It used Mad Dash and lunged at the party. Kairi swung up with Destiny's Embrace and sent Kurt Zisa in the air. It recovered in the air and threw its six blades at Sora.

"Oh man!" Sora said as he flew back with the spinning blades in pursuit. He quickly dismissed Kingdom key and summoned Ultima Weapon and Ultima Edge. he connected the tips of the blades and cast a Double Magnega. He combined the spells into one large Magnega, and threw it at the flying blades. The large Magnega caught all six blades in its vortex and repelled them back at Kurt Zisa. The Heartless easily caught the blades with its hands. Sora wanetd to end the fight now, so after some thinking, he had an idea. He ran towards Kurt Zisa, and it swung its massive blades at him. Using High Jump LV2 and Aerial Dodge LV3, Sora dodged the blades and landed in front of Kurt Zisa.

Using Finishing Leap, he stabbed Ultima Weapon into the ground which caused a blast of light energy to come up from beneath Kurt Zisa's feet, and knock it into the air. Riku flew towards Kurt Zisa and slashed it rapidly in the midair while also hitting it with Dark Aura's. When he was finished, he jumped towards Sora. "Sora!" Riku called.

Sora jumped forward, dismissing Ultima Edge, and grabbing Way to the Dawn from Riku, holding it backwards in his hand like how Ven used his Keyblade. He began to slash Kurt Zisa rapidly with Ultima Weapon and Way to the Dawn, before sending it in the air with a strike to the abdomen, and a strike to the back (AN: The attack he uses on Xemnas during the last battle in KHII). Sora quickly threw Way to the Dawn back to Riku and landed.

"Kairi!" Sora cued. Kairi quickly cast a Stopga spell, which froze Kurt Zisa in midair.

"Roxas!" Sora called. Roxas quickly threw his Keyblades into the air.

"Let's go!" Sora shouted to the Keyblades as held his hand out to them. Oblivion was then surrounded by a blue light, while Oathkeeper was surrounded by a white light. The two Keyblades began levitating around Sora, as he was in control of them now. Roxas now began using his 13 Beams to full effect. The Light Beams pierced, and cut into Kurt Zisa, while at the same time burning into every part of Kurt Zisa's body from just about every angle. While Roxas was doing this, Sora commanded Oblivion, and Oathkeeper to attack. The flying Keybldaes began to rapidly slash and pierce through Kurt Zisa's body many times at incredible speeds. When they were finished, Sora got back to back with Roxas, and Roxas took his Keyblades back.

Sora jumped out of the way as Kairi's Stopga spell wore off and Kurt Zisa began falling towards the ground. Roxas turned and used his Dual-Bout attack. He charged towards Kurt Zisa with impressive speed. When he was in front of it, he slashed with Oblivion, and slid passed Kurt Zisa before its body collided with the ground. In an instant, a large slash appeared arcoss Kurt Zisa's chest, as well as holes from Oathkeeper and Oblivion's stabbing, and the severe burn and cut marks everywhere from Roxas's Light Beams. Kurt Zisa went limp as its body disintegrated into a dark cloud and disappeared.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Sora and the others dismissed their Keyblades, seeing as the battle reached its end. "Well, that takes care of that." Sora smiled.

"We've should to get back to the Palace fast. But how?" Roxas wondered. Suddenly, a flying carpet came flying in their direction, as if answering Roxas's question. It landed in front of them and walked over to them, and rubbed itself against Roxas's leg.

"Hey, carpet!" Roxas greeted.

"Roxas, you know carpet?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. Back when I was in the Organization, I met it when I was crossing the desert on a mission here with my partner," Roxas answered. "_Whoever they were._" Roxas thought.

"Well, let's get going." Kairi said as she hopped on Carpet. Carpet quickly carried the party back to the Palace.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When Sora's party returned to the room, they noticed that Jafar was lying on the floor with large lumps on his head, spinning eyes, and stars above his head. Naminé and Aqua were standing in front of him, looking very angry. Roxas looked in the corner of the room to see the boys shivering in fear. "Okay, I'll bite. What happened?" Roxas asked.

"Well, let's just say he said something that got them a little… feisty." Terra answered.

"Well he deserved it!" Naminé exclaimed in anger. Kairi walked over to the girls.

"What did he say?" Kairi asked. The girls whispered it into her ears, and boy did Kairi get mad.

"WHAT?" Kairi shouted before she began beating the hell out of Jafar, who had just regained consciousness. His screams of pain echoed throughout the room as he was at the mercy of Kairi's wrath. When she stopped, she turned to see Sora, Roxas, and Riku were also shivering in the corner with the others with scared eyes, which made the girls laugh.

"I'm glad she's your girlfriend and not mine." Roxas whsipered to Sora.

"Oh come on, you've got to deal with Naminé. That's probably worse." Sora whsipered back.

"If you think those two are bad, you should see Aqua when she's mad. She's worse than both of them combined." Terra to them. The boys shared nods of agreement, but noticed three shadows looming over them. They frighteningly turned to see the girls standing over them with angry looks on their faces, their hands on their hips, veins bulging on their forehead, and the entire area behind them in flames.

"AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?-!" the girls shouted, indicating they could hear what the guys were whispering.

"Uh.. n-nothing." the boys answered at the same time, trying to get out of the situation they were in.

"We've got a question for all of you?" the girls asked as they were sweetly smiling, and the flames behind them disappeared.

"Y-y-yeah?" the guys asked, scared at the _innocent_ faces the girls were giving them.

"What's black, and blue, and red all over." the three girls asked, cracking their knuckles while still smiling_ sweetly_.

The answer instantly hit the guys. "Is... is it us?" the guys asked in a scared tone.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" the girls yelled before they began beating the hell out of the boys. The boys screams of pain and agony echoed everywhere as they had no way of escaping the wrath of the girls. Jafar quickly escaped while the girls were beating the boys.

"Another day, street rats!" Jafar menacingly hissed before disappearing in a cloud of red smoke.

The boys were getting a major beating for a good five minutes before the girls cooled down and stopped.

"I could sure use a warm bath after that." Namine said stretching he arms.

"Same here." Aqua and Kairi agreed as Kairi stretched her arms too and Aqua rubbed her back. The girls left the room as the boys lay in the middle of the room, piled on top of each other while groaning from the pain of their injuries. They were covered with bruises, with a few black eyes, and their eyes were spinning with stars spinning above their heads. Naminé quickly poked her head out from the entrance of the room.

"Oh, and if you guys try to peek at us while were in the bath, we'll do this to you again ten times worse." Naminé said with a smile as she tore off a big piece of the wall with just her bare hand.

"Yes mam!" the boys said loudly while standing up straight with their arms at their sides, not wanting another beating.

"I'm glad you understand." Naminé said as she left. The boys all breathed sighs of relief.

"I could use a big rest after that." Donald said as he collapsed on the floor, with Goofy and Mickey doing the same. Sora and Roxas snickered at each other with mischievous looks on their faces. Terra knew what it meant.

"You're gonna peek aren't you?"

Sora and Roxas nodded. "They're practically begging for it!" Sora said. Terra, Riku and Ven just shook their heads as they watched Sora and Roxas run off to what would probably be their death sentence, before they too collapsed on the floor from the beat down.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They had used Glide to fly up to the window, which was the window of a giant bath that was the size of an in ground swimming pool. The two of them peeked in through window, and they saw Kairi, Naminé, and Aqua in the giant bath. But when they did see them, they began blushing bright red, and their noses were gushing bleeding. They quickly wiped the blood away as they continued to stare at the girls.

"Hey Aqua, are you feeling better?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, a lot better. Thanks for saving me." Aqua said.

"No problem." Kairi replied.

"Hey, Aqua, can I ask you a question?" Naminé asked.

"Sure." Aqua smiled back.

"Do you like Terra?" Naminé asked. Aqua's eyes immediately widened in shock and her face turned redder than a tomato.

"N-N-N-No, of course not!" Aqua hesitantly exclaimed, "H-H-He and Ven are like brothers to me, nothing more!"

"Really?" Kairi questioned with a mischievous smirk, "It doesn't seem that way."

"I'm telling you two, their like brothers to me, and nothing else!" Aqua embarrassingly yelled. Kairi and Naminé just burst out laughing at Aqua's reaction.

"It's okay, Aqua. I was just kidding." Naminé said. The blush quickly went away from Aqua's face as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what do you two see in Sora and Roxas?" Aqua asked.

"Well they're strong." Kairi said.

"And handsome." Naminé said.

"And kind."

"And compassionate."

"And helpful"

"And have gorgeous eyes."

Aqua looked at the two in confusion as they continued making a list of things they saw in Sora and Roxas. Then something caught her attention. She looked into the water and saw a reflection of the wall. She could see that Sora and Roxas were peeking at them through the high window. Aqua's face turned bright red as she gasped with embarrassment while covering her cleavage with her arms. She then began growling loudly as her face burned with anger. She quickly summoned Stormfall to her right hand. "WELL ADD BIG PERVERTS TO YOUR LIST!" Aqua screamed as she fired a Thunder at the window, which shocked Sora and Roxas intensely, leaving most of their bodies charred.

The two fell from the window and there was a loud thud outside. "Those two are so dead!" Kairi shouted as her and Naminé's faces were blazing red.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sora and Roxas ran down the hall back towards the room where the boys were. Right when they were about to reach it, they stopped in their tracks as a fully clothed Aqua suddenly appeared in their path. "Going somewhere?" Aqua said with an angry expression on her face.

"N-Nowhere special." Sora replied as he and Roxas backed away. They quickly turned to run the other way, only to see Kairi and Naminé, also fully clothed, blocking their other escaped route. They also looked very mad.

"Oh no, really, we insist. Stay a while." Naminé said as the girls approached the boys and summoned their Keyblades.

"Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"It's been nice knowing you."

"The feeling's mutual."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Inside the the room, the rest of the boys could here Sora and Roxas screaming apologies as the girls were pummeling them again.

Ven sighed. "Should've stayed here." Ven said.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Terra agreed as they listened to their friends scream.

* * *

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	8. The Genie of True Darkness

**Chapter 8 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

A smiling Kairi, Naminé, and Aqua entered the room first, with Sora and Roxas coming in after them. Sora and Roxas had a lot more bruises than before, and a single black eye for both of them. After the two apologized to the girls, they forgave Sora and Roxas for their actions. Aqua threw a Hi-Potion on them, and healed their wounds, along with the other guys.

"So what do we do now?" Riku asked.

"So far we haven't gotten anywhere here." Terra added in. Sora looked out the window to see it was still dark, cloudy, and raining hard.

"I'll head out into town and ask the people if they might know." Sora said.

"I'll go to." Naminé said.

"Well if she's going, so am I. Besides Sora, you'll need someone there to bail you out when you get in trouble." Roxas said.

"Just come on." Sora complained as the three left the room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they got to the main city, they all decided to split up, and ask people questions to see if they could find something out. They did manage to find some interesting things out. The three then met up at the center of the city. "Did you guys find anything out?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah, I found out some stuff." Sora answered.

"I also found out some stuff." Roxas answered too. "Hey Naminé, why don't you head back. I wanna try to see if I can get some more info."

Naminé nodded and ran back to the palace. Roxas turned back to Sora. "Let's go."

Sora nodded and the two ran off.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They were both in awe as they saw the Peddler's Shop was bigger and better than ever. "Ah, welcome back Sora, and I see you have brought a friend along." the Peddler said.

"Yeah, this is Roxas." Sora introduced.

"Hi." Roxas said.

"Well, I'm guessing you have come to shop, yes?" the Peddler asked. The two nodded.

"Then please pick whatever you like as long as you can afford it." the Peddler said.

The two began looking in the new necklace section. "_Let's see, what would be a good present for Naminé_?" Roxas thought as he looked through the various, and expensive necklaces. After much looking, Roxas finally spotted a necklace he just couldn't take his eyes off of. It was a beautiful, sapphire necklace, in the shape of a heart. The chain was made of silver with diamonds in it, which also went around the diamond. Roxas picked it up and stared at it in amazement.

"I see you like it." the Peddler said.

"Yeah. It's amazing." Roxas said.

"That necklace is called the "Heart of the Ocean". It's one of the most expensive necklaces in the world." the Peddler said. (AN: Look up Heart of the Ocean at Google images, it's really cool.)

"Whoa." was all Roxas could say, admiring the necklaces appearance and worth. "_It's like her eyes._"

Sora was still looking for a necklace for Kairi. After some more looking, he spotted a beautifal blue diamond in the shape of a heart like Roxas's. It had a silver chain with rubies in it. "What's this?" Sora asked the Peddler.

"That is the "Heart of Eternity". Also a very expensive necklace." the Peddler answered. (AN: Also look this up on Google Image.)

Sora and Roxas thought for a minute. "We'll take them!" they both said.

"Alright, follow me so we can complete your purchase." the Peddler said. He lead them to the front and scanned their necklaces on the register. "Okay, that will be nine hundred thousand munny."

Sora paid easily for the necklaces because of the large amounts of munny he obtained on his journeys. The two left the shop with the two necklaces in boxes. They hid the boxes in their pockets so they could give them to the girls later.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They returned the Palace, and snuck into their room. They hid their presents in there before returning to the room where everyone else was. "How'd it go?" Mickey asked.

"We got some good information." Sora said.

"Then let's hear it." Ven said.

"Well, from what I heard, they say ever since a guy wearing a mask showed up, the weather's been like this" Sora said.

Everyone instantly knew Sora meant Vanitas. "What does that guy have to do with whatever's going on here?" Mickey wondered.

"I also heard that somebody overheard him talking about the Keyhole." Roxas said.

"So he can get the light of the world." Riku said.

"So, where is the Keyhole?" Naminé asked.

"In the Cave of Wonders." Sora answered.

"Did I hear someone say the Cave of Wonders?" a voice said. Everyone turned to see Aladdin and Abu entered the room.

"Hey Aladdin!" Goofy happily greeted. Suddenly blue smoke entered the room.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Roxas is that you?" Genie instantly caught the four in a bone crushing hug. "I've missed you little rascals so much!" Genie said while crying fake tears.

R-Roxas you know G-Genie too?" Sora grunted as he was being crushed by Genie's hug.

"Y-Yeah." Roxas grunted as he also got crushed. Genie released them a few seconds later.

"Hey Sora, who's this?" Naminé asked.

"Oh, this is-", but Genie interrupted Sora.

"Please kid, let a professional do the introductions. I am the one, the only, GENIE OF THE LAMP!" Genie said in his usual wacky tone as colorful fireworks went off around him. Naminé giggled at how Genie was so happy-go-lucky.

"You're a real genie?-!" Ven excitedly asked.

"You betcha kid! Phenomenal cosmic powers! itty-bitty living space." Genie answered again in a funny way.

"Cool." Ven said in amazement.

"So you guys are gonna go to the Cave of Wonders?" Aladdin asked.

"Yeah, we've gotta find the Keyhole." Donald answered.

"Then we'll go to." Aladdin said. Abu started jumping for joy.

"Abu, don't get any ideas!" Donald warned. Abu just shrieked at Donald which lead to the two getting into an argument.

"Enough you two! We have to hurry!" Riku shouted. The two stopped fighting, but still gave each other glares.

"Luckily for all of you I have a super special first class genie of the lamp way to get there!" Genie said. He gathered magic in his hands.

"Shazam!" Carpet grew in size enough to fit everyone on it. Everyone jumped on and carpet flew out to the desert faster than it usually could to the Cave's location.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The party reached the Cave's location, but strangely enough, there was nothing there.

"What?" Sora said in shock. Everyone hopped off Carpet to see there was nothing there, but a large pile of sand.

"Where's the cave?" Kairi asked.

"It should be right here." Sora said. The ground suddenly began to shake violently.

"What's goin' on?-!" Goofy yelped while trying to keep his balance. Two lights appeared on the top the large mound of sand which began to rise and mold into the shape of a tiger head with ear rings. The Cave of Wonders Guardian.

"Is this the Cave?" Ven asked.

"Yeah." Roxas answered.

"It's so huge." Aqua commented.

"And kinda weird looking." Terra added in.

"It's a good thing it's still here." Naminé said.

"Hey guys, up there!" Riku alerted as he pointed to the top of the Cave Guardian's head. Everyone looked up to see Vanitas standing on top pf the Cave Guardian's head. He placed his hand the head, and implanted dark energy into the head. The Cave Guardian's eyes turned purple as Vanitas disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness.

"Oh not again." Donald complained as he remembered he first fought the Cave Guardian with Sora, and Goofy. Everyone summoned their weapons, ready to fight the cave. Neoshadows appeared around the Cave Guardian, as well as Dancer, and Berserker Nobodies.

"Think we can take 'em?" Goofy wondered.

"I do." Roxas said. He summoned his inner power, and out of nowhere, a group of Samurai Nobodies appeared.

"Cool!" Sora said in astonishment. The Dancers and Neoshadows charged on the party to attack. Roxas pointed Oblivion at the incoming enemies, and the Samurai's charged to attack them. Genie and Aladdin went over to assist the Samurai's.

"They'll take care of them. We can take care of the big guy here." Roxas said. Everyone nodded, and charged towards the Cave Guardian. From its eyes, the Cave Guardian began shooting blasts of energy at them. The small blasts were homing in on them. Everyone quickly scattered as the blasts crashed into the desert sand. The attack kicked up a dust cloud that Sora and Terra used to their advantage. They used Glide to fly on top of the head, and got behind the Cave Guardian's eyes. Terra channeled his light energy into Ends of the Earth, while Sora channeled his light energy into the Kingdom Key.

They stabbed their Keyblades into the Cave Guardian's eye, causing the darkness in its eyes to drain out. The Cave Guardian thrashed around violently, causing Sora, and Terra to hang on for their lives. The Cave Guardian shot blasts out of its eyes, which homed in on Sora and Terra. They were struck by the blasts, and were sent flying off the head. Before they hit the ground, the Cave Guardian let off a powerful roar that sent them rolling through the wet sand.

The two coughed out sand as they got back to their feet. "That thing's tough." Terra said as he gagged on the wet sand that got in his mouth.

"Seems tougher than last time." Sora added in. The Cave Guardian opened its mouth, and began spitting out Shadow, Bandit, and Soldier Heartless.

"Talk about making matters worse." Ven said. A group of Bandits attacked Ven. One Bandit brought its scimitar down on Ven. Ven easily blocked it with Wayward Wind. Another Bandit came around and stabbed its scimitar at Ven. Ven quickly pushed the first Bandit back, and slashed the second Bandit down. He quickly turned back around and split the first one in half. A third Bandit managed to sneak up from behind, and swung at Ven's back. Ven noticed too late, and wouldn't have time to counter. Before the blade made contact with him, Roxas blocked the scimitar with Oblivion. Using his other arm, he cut the Bandit down with Oathkeeper.

"Don't worry, I've got your back." Roxas said. Ven nodded and the two readied for the rest of the Bandits. Two charged at Ven, while the other two charged at Roxas. The two Bandits swung their scimitars at Roxas. Roxas blocked both of them with Oathkeeper. He pushed them back and swung wide with Oblivion, and destroyed both Bandit's. One Bandit swung its scimitar at Ven. Ven ducked under the strike and cut the Bandit down with Wayward Wind. The other one swung horizontally at Ven's waist. Ven jumped back, and cast a Fire spell, which instantly destroyed the Bandit.

Several Soldiers charged at Kairi. They surrounded her and lunged at her, and swung their claws. Using incredible speed she learned from Sora, Kairi stabbed Destiny's Embrace into one, spun around and slashed another, and cast a Fira spell that spun around her, incinerating the rest. An unexpected Bandit stabbed its scimitar at her. Kairi dodged to the side, and swung down Destiny's Embrace onto the back of the Bandits scimitar, pushing it to the ground. She quickly placed Destiny's Embrace under the sharp side of the scimitar, and swung up, sending the Bandit's scimitar flying in the air. The blade came down and sliced the Bandit in half.

Riku quickly slashed through and Soldier and destroyed a Shadow with Dark Aura. A Bandit swung its scimitar at him, but he blocked it easily. He pushed the Bandit's blade back and quickly cut it down. A group of Soldier's attacked at once, which Riku easily with a slash combo. Riku then used Sonic Blade and and speared through rows of Bandits as they appeared in front of him.

Naminé slashed through two Shadow's, and destroyed a Bandit with a Blizzard spell. She then used Ragnarok and fired several blasts of energy which homed in on and destroyed a group of Soldiers. Another Soldier came at her from behind and swung its claws at her. Before it hit her, Goofy appeared in front of the Soldier and knocked the Soldier into the air with Save the King. He then used Goofy Bash and and threw Save the King at the Soldier, destroying it.

Goofy and Sora quickly used their Whirli-Goofga and began rolling over and destroying scores of Heartless. While they were at that, Donald used Duck Flare and destroyed groups of Shadow's simultaneously with magical rockets. He then used Megaduck Flare and launched a barrage of missiles, destroying large numbers of Bandits.

Terra took down groups of Shadows easily with wide slashes. He jumped high into the air and brought Ends of the Earth down on two Soldiers easily destroying them. He attempted to charge for the Cave Guardian, but groups of Shadows stopped him. Terra charged and swung Ends of the Earth wide, quickly annihilating the Shadows in his path, only for more to appear. Aqua quickly destroyed one Shadow with a Blizzard spell and destroyed the rest with quick slashes. Several Soldiers then appeared and surrounded the two.

A Soldier jumped towards Aqua, which she destroyed with a slash while destroying another with a Thunder spell. Terra stabbed one Soldier and slashed away another. He then swung wide and took down three Soldiers instantly. Aqua then quickly cast a Fire spell which spun around her and Terra, finishing off the rest of the Soldiers surrounding them. When the flames cleared, a Shadow lunged towards her, which Aqua easily destroyed with a swing from Stormfall.

After Whirli-Goofga was over, Sora turned his attention to the Cave Guardian. Sora charged and slashed through several Shadow's while trying to reach the Cave Guardian. He used Explosion and made four spheres of light spin around him, defeating incoming Shadows from the sides and behind. A Soldier lunged from behind and swung its claws at Sora's head. Riku cast Dark Shield, which blocked the Soldier's claws. Riku quickly cut down the Soldier before it could recover. "Sora, can you get to the Cave?" Riku asked.

"Not with all these Heartless blocking my way." Sora answered. Terra and Aqua ran up to them.

"Riku and I will make a path. Sora, you and Aqua can take care of the rest." Terra suggested.

"Alright, let's do it." Sora said. The four charged for the Cave Guardian, with Riku and Terra in front. Rows of Shadows and Bandits appeared before them. Riku slashed through oncoming Shadows with quick swings, while Terra took out several Bandits with wide swings. When they reached the front of the Cave Guardian, it shoved its large mouth into the ground, and gathered sand in its mouth. It brought its head up, and spat all the sand out at the party. The attack stopped them in their tracks and pushed them back some.

The Cave Guardian was about to use the same tactic again, but Naminé used Strike Raid, and threw Two Become One, which hit its nose. This distracted the Cave Guardian long enough for Sora and Aqua to fly up and land on its head. The two stabbed their Keyblades into the Cave Guardian's eyes, which began to wipe out the remaining darkness inside it. The Cave Guardian began to charge dark blasts to knock them off, but Sora and Aqua immediately jumped off it s head. "Roxas! Ven!" Sora called.

Roxas threw Oathkeeper while Ven threw Wayward Wind. The two Keyblades of Light pierced into the Cave Guardian's eyes and completely erased the rest of the dark energy inside it. A blast of energy sent the Keyblades flying, Roxas and Ven easily caught, and any Heartless and Nobodies left vanished. The Cave Guardian ceased movement and returned to normal. "Well that's taken care of." Sora said as he dismissed Ultima Edge.

"Let's go." Aladdin said. Everyone quickly ran into the Cave towards the Lamp Chamber.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After much running, the party had finally reached the Lamp Chamber. Unfortunately, when they got there, they were in for a big surprise. The Keyhole was already open.

"The Keyhole's open!" Goofy said in shock.

"But, how can that be?" Riku asked.

"That guy in the mask must've opened it." Naminé said.

"So does that mean they took the light?" Sora asked.

"That looks to be the case." Aqua said.

"Then we've got to hurry back quick!" Aladdin exclaimed.

Abu looked on the floor, and spotted a large ruby jewel. Abu jumped down from Aladdin's shoulder, and picked it up in his usual greed. "Um Abu I don't think you shoul-"

Aladdin was interrupted by the Cave Guardian's booming voice. "INFIDELS!"

"Uh oh." Abu said in fear.

"YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE FORBIDDEN TREASURE! NOW NONE OF YOU WILL EVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAAAAAY!" the Cave Guardian shouted as the whole place began to rumble, and lava shot up from below.

"We've got to get out of here!" Roxas shouted. Everyone jumped on Carpet and it began flying out of the cave as fast as it could. Obelisks and pillars of lava that shot up and tried to stop them. Carpet managed to avoid them skillfully. Abu got very scared and jumped on Sora's face.

"Abu! Abu this is no time to panic!" Sora said as he removed Abu from his face. Sora gasped as he saw they were heading for a narrow wall where they would have to go straight down to avoid crashing.

"Everyone start panicking." Sora said in a scared tone. Everyone started screaming when Carpet managed to make the vertical drop without hitting the wall. They reached the bottom and Carpet flew even faster. They looked ahead and saw that the mouth was closing.

"Faster Carpet!" Goofy said. Carpet zoomed towards the exit and managed to make it out with only one second left. The Cave Guardian's mouth closed and the entire head melted down into a pile of sand. Carpet flew across the desert back to the Palace as fast as it could.

When Agrabah was in sight, they saw there was a light emitting from the Palace. "Oh no, we're too late!" Mickey said.

"It's not over yet! We've got to go faster!" Riku said.

"Alright one super fancy turbo boost comin' right up!" Genie said. He turned into a pair of giant jet boosters on the back of Carpet.

"Hang on kiddies! It's gonna be one heck of a ride! Keep your arms, legs, and any other body parts inside the carpet at all times." Genie said as the engine began to turn on. Everyone quickly held onto Carpet as tight as they could. The jet boosters activated and they were sent across the desert at unbelievable speeds. Everyone could just barely hang on.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, everyone in the Palace was locked in the dungeons, while in the courtyard, the light of the world floated in front of Master Xehanort, Maleficent, and Jafar. "Tell me Xehanort, how much power do these lights possess?" Maleficent asked.

"A great deal of power. Just a single one can increase ones power greatly. Corrupted by darkness, it would be no different." Master Xehanort answered.

Master Xehanort turned as he sensed several powers approaching. "I sense they are approaching. Dispose of them." Master Xehanort ordered Jafar as he disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness, and Maleficent disappeared in a burst of green flames.

Sora and the others arrived on the scene moments later.

Everyone fell off of carpet to the ground, their faces nothing short of dazed.

"Thank you for flying Genie airlines." Genie said as he changed back to normal.

"Never... again." Roxas panted as everyone stood up and faced Jafar.

"You're too late street rats!" Jafar said pointed his snake staff at the light. A red beam shot forth from the snakes eyes and hit the light of the world, turning it into a ball of pure darkness. The ball flew towards and Jafar hit his chest, merging with his body.

* * *

_Play this music: The Encounter - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Everyone gasped as Jafar's body was covered by an immensely strong aura of darkness. "Behold! The true power of darkness!" Jafar declared as his body was enveloped by a cloud of red and black smoke. A beam of darkness shot up from the smoke and struck the clouds. The rainfall around the world ceased, while the clouds turned crimson red. Black lightning flashed around the clouds, and struck areas of the town below, leaving darkness infected burn marks. A strong wind picked up around Agrabah as the cloud of smoke covering Jafar became larger and stretched towards the sky. Two of the Palace towers then began to fall towards the party.

"Move!" Sora shouted and everyone jumped onto Carpet. Carpet quickly lifted them all into the air. When they reached the same height as the smoke cloud, everyone except Aladdin, and Abu jumped off Carpet, and used Glide to stay afloat.

"I'll go to the Palace to free everyone else." Aladdin said as Carpet flew into the Palace. Everyone else summoned their weapons, ready to fight Jafar. When the smoke cloud burst away from the center, it revealed Jafar in his genie form. He now had a black aura around him, with black electricity crackling around him. Along with that he had longer black claws, black spikes jutting out of his arms, and black energy wings on his back.

"This time I will destroy you all!" Jafar declared as the lightning flashed brightly through the sky.

"I beg to differ." Sora said.

* * *

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	9. The Sun Must Rise Again

**Chapter 9 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_Play this music: Destiny's Force - Kingdom Hearts_

* * *

"All shall bend to my will! This world is mine to control!" Jafar declared as he summoned a dark fireball in each of his hands.

"I don't think so!" Ven retorted. Jafar combined the dark fireballs into one large dark fireball, and hurled it towards Ven. Ven swung up with Wayward Wind, and sliced the dark fireball in half. Jafar summoned two more dark fireballs to his hands and threw them at the party. They dodged them, so Jafar continued summoning and throwing dark fireballs at the party. The party quickly scattered to confuse Jafar, and make it harder for his dark fireballs to hit them. Jafar turned his attention to Sora and Terra. He swung his large hands at them, thought they flew over them easily. Sora flew next to Terra.

"Go for his head, I'll cover you!" Sora suggested. Terra nodded as he flew for the demonic genie's head with Sora next to him.

Jafar opened his mouth, and a large torrent of black flames shot out. Terra and Sora quickly pulled back before they were incinerated by the dark flames. "Die, you vermin!" Jafar swung his hand down and swatted the two away. They managed to recover before hitting the ground. Aqua came up from the side and slashed at Jafar's face, but the blade of Stormfall simply bounced off the surface. Jafar swatted at her with his hand, but Aqua managed to avoid the strike. Kairi quickly cast a Fire at Jafar. Jafar brought his hand up and easily destroyed the spell like it was nothing.

Using telekinesis, Jafar brought up two chunks of the palace, and threw them towards Kairi. Kairi flew towards the first piece, and easily sliced it in half down the middle. She ran along one of the sliced pieces, and jumped towards the second one. She brought down Destiny's Embrace and sliced the second palace piece in half. Jafar swung his arms and launched red energy replicas of his arm spikes. One was about to hit Roxas, but Sora quickly cast a Stop spell, and froze the spike in place. Roxas quickly destroyed the spike with Oblivion.

Several more spikes were heading for Sora, but Goofy intercepted and blocked all of them with Save the King. Naminé and Riku deflected the spikes that came at them with quick strikes from their Keyblades. Riku then cast Dark Shield to make it easier for them. Ven and Terra flew towards Jafar and swung their Keyblades at his abdomen. Jafar suddenly disappeared before their Keyblades made could make contact. "What?" Terra said in shock.

Jafar suddenly appeared behind the two and grabbed them with his hands. He crushed his hands together and smashed the two in between them. Jafar opened his hands, and Terra and Ven fell towards the ground. "Terra! Ven!" Aqua cried. She dismissed Stormfall and flew after the two. She grabbed Terra's arm, and Ven around his waist. The two groaned as they recovered.

"You guys okay?" Aqua asked worried.

"Y-Yeah." Ven answered. Aqua let them go and two activated Glide.

"Please be more careful." Aqua said. The two nodded and they all flew back to the fight.

Sora went into Valor Form and flew for Jafar. He swung down with Ultima Weapon towards Jafar's arm. Jafar brought his arm up, thinking it would block the Keyblade easily, but was shocked when Ultima Weapon cut into his arm.

"What?" Jafar said, confused that Sora cut into his enhanced skin.

"There's more where that came from!" Sora ran along Jafar's arm towards his head. He stopped at the shoulder and stabbed Ultima Weapon, and Ultima Edge into Jafar's shoulder. Jafar screamed and thrashed around, knocking Sora off and ripping out his Keyblades.

"You'll never escape!" Jafar said as he trapped Sora in a red energy field.

"C-Can't m-move." Sora grunted as he struggled to get out. Jafar then brought his hands together.

"Take this!" Jafar swung his hands at Sora. Sora was struck hard, and was being pulled along with Jafar's hands. Jafar swung hard and threw Sora off. Sora managed to regain his balance in the air. Kairi quickly flew over to him.

"Sora, are you alright?" she worryingly asked.

"Yeah." Sora answered as he wiped some blood from his mouth.

Jafar charged a ball of darkness from his mouth, which then shot forth as a beam of darkness, towards Roxas. Roxas easily avoided it, but looked to see the blast was heading for the city. "Damn!" Roxas flew after the beam. He managed to get in front of it, and crossed his Keyblades into an "X" form. The beam collided with the Keyblades, and began pushing Roxas back. Roxas pushed forth with all he had, but it just wasn't enough.

"_Damn it! At this rate it'll-_"

"_Don't give up Roxas! You can do it!_" a young female voice called to him in his mind.

"Huh? Who are you?" Roxas asked. Roxas felt his strength increase, so he took advantage of the situation and pushed the beam of darkness back. Roxas then swung both of his Keyblades out, and shattered the beam into many glass-like shards. He surrounded the tips of his Keyblades with the power of light and used Aerial Roll. He flew towards Jafar's abdomen with great speed while doing a series of fast front flips. The tips cut into the skin, but the wounds were only shallow. Roxas then hit Jafar's abdomen with a series of quick slashes, ending with a light enhanced "X" slash. Jafar could take the pain no longer, and pushed Roxas away with his darkness.

Jafar was too focused on Roxas, he failed to see Terra and Ven come flying towards his face. Terra swung down Ends of the Earth and slashed Jafar's face to the right. Ven came from the other side and slashed Jafar's face to the left with Wayward Wind. Aqua came down from above and swung down Stormfall. Aqua's hit left a cut on Jafar's forehead. Jafar swung his arm and nailed all three of them, sending the flying.

Sora and Goofy quickly used Teamwork. They skipped the first two steps and immediately used Cosmo Boost. Goofy held Save the King out in front of him as his feet were on the tip of Ultima Weapon. Sora held out Ultima Edge to give the Cosmo Boost twice as much power. Sora launched Goofy off the Keyblades tips. Goofy flew at great speeds, and slammed into Jafar's chest with great force. He continued flying around and smacking Jafar from all over.

He sent out a large burst of dark energy, and Goofy was sent flying back, but he recovered. Donald quickly used Megaduck Flare, and launched a large barrage of magical rockets at Jafar. The rockets had little effect on him, and only proved to annoy him. Suddenly, the group was covered by shadow. When the shadow passed, they saw they were in Jafar's illusion. "I will destroy you all!" Jafar shouted as pieces of rock and other debris were sent at the group.

Everyone avoided, or destroyed the debris that was sent their way easily. Because of the wind, and the debris, they couldn't touch Jafar. Sora had an idea, and he switched over to his Limit Form. He activated Ragnarok, and sent the blasts of energy from Ultima Weapons tip. He fired another round off of Ultima Edge's tip. The many blast's homed in on Jafar, and they all pierced through his body. The illusion disappeared immediately afterward, and everyone was back in reality. Jafar looked exhausted from the power of the blasts, but regained his focus and sent a fast dark fireball at Sora. Sora was planning on hitting it with a Magnet spell, but instead of Magnet, a ball of water came out. The dark fireball was doused and extinguished as soon as it made contact with the water ball. "That was new." Sora said, confused.

Jafar chanted a spell and sent out a large number of dark fireballs at everyone. "Come on, when will it end?" Kairi complained as Jafar just wouldn't go down. Riku and Mickey fired a series of Dark Aura and Pearl attacks, easily stopping the fireballs. Jafar then began throwing black energy spears that materialized from his energy wings. Everyone began avoiding them, but Naminé failed to see one was coming for her from behind. "Naminé, look out!" Roxas shouted. Naminé looked to see the spear coming for her, and she wouldn't be able to stop or avoid it.

Naminé closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable. When she opened her eyes, she saw Roxas pushed her out of the way, and the spear sliced his right arm as it went past, leaving a big slash on his arm. He dismissed his Keyblades as he grabbed his bleeding arm with his other one. Naminé quickly flew over to him. "Roxas, why did you do that?" Naminé asked with tears in her eyes.

"Because I love you." was all Roxas needed to say. Sora, and Kairi came over to them.

"You alright?" Sora asked.

"I think so." Roxas winced as his arm was in much pain. Sora cast a Curaga on Roxas's arm, which heealed the wound, and also fixed the large tear in his coat.

"I can go on." Roxas said as he summoned his Keyblades back to his hand.

"Just don't over do it." Kairi said as she and Sora flew back to the battle. Roxas and Naminé flew back as well.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Riku said, pointing Way to the Dawn at Jafar.

"Let's see you try." Jafar replied as he swung his arm and launched several dark balls at Sora. at them. Riku easily dodged them, while Sora threw his Keyblades at Jafar. Jafar easily smacked them away, only to see Riku fly towards him. Jafar swung his right arm at Riku, only for Riku to fly over it, and land on the back of his hand. He stabbed Way to the Dawn into Jafar's hand and dragged it along the length of his arm, ripping it out when he reached the shoulder blade. Jafar screamed in pain as he grabbed his cut arm.

"Just returning the favor." Riku said.

"You'll pay!" Jafar said as he was getting angrier.

"I think it's time to end this." Sora said. He pointed Kingdom Key at Jafar. Light began charging at the tip before Sora fired a beam of light at Jafar. The beam hit him in the chest, and Jafar gasped as he ceased movement. Sora began to pull the Kingdom Key back. As he pulled, the ball of pure darkness began exiting Jafar. Sora pulled hard and completely pulled the orb. When it flew towards him, he smacked the ball with Kingdom Key, draining all the darkness inside it, once again turning it into the light of the world. Sora absorbed it into his body, and felt his strength increase.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here_

* * *

"N-no! This can't be happening!" Jafar wailed as he clutched his chest and his appearance reverted back into his normal genie form.

"Hey, Genie!" Sora called. Genie came flying out of the Palace.

"What? Am I late? Did I miss all the action? And I had some new moves to show off." Genie complained.

"Nope. We've saved you plenty." Sora said pointing to the weakened Jafar.

"Alright!" Genie said as boxing gloves appeared on his hands and he flew towards Jafar. Genie gave Jafar a series of right hooks, left hook, jabs, and ending with a massive uppercut that sent off an explosion of fireworks. Jafar was sent flying high into the air from the blow. Aladdin flew up next to Sora.

"Here, Sora." Aladdin gave Sora Jafar's black lamp. Sora held the lamp up, and a beam of energy shot out from it. The beam hit Jafar, and began drawing him in.

"No! I'm not going back!" Jafar said as he resisted the lamps power.

"Too bad, so sad." Sora said. Jafar screamed as he was drawn back into the lamp. Sora and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief as the battle was finally over. Suddenly, the lamp disappeared from Sora's hand in a smoke of darkness.

"What?-!" Sora gasped as he looked for where the lamp went, but it was nowhere in sight.

"Damn, he got away." Sora growled.

"Well I don't think he'll be coming back for a while. If he does, we'll be ready for him." Aladdin said. Sora smiled and nodded to Aladdin. The lightning in the sky ceased, and the clouds vanished, revealing Agrabah's blue sky, and shining sun once again.

"You did it Sora!" Kairi flew over and hugged him before kissing him on the cheek.

"C'mon Kai. You're making me blush." Sora said as he embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. Everyone flew down to the ground as the sun rose over Agrabah once again.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After the party got back to the palace, Genie used his magic to fix the damage done to the city.

"Thank you for everything Sora." Jasmine said.

"You don't have to thank us. We were just doing our job. Anyways, we've gotta get going." Sora said .

"Good luck you guys." Aladdin assured. The party nodded.

"When you guys come back, I'm gonna throw the biggest, wildest party in the history of the universe!" Genie exclaimed in joy with fireworks going off around him.

"Sure Genie." Sora agreed before the party left the world.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Lanes Between**_

Everyone looked from the window of the Falcon Peak to see Agrabah surrounded by a white aura, just like Olympus Coliseum. "So, where to now?" Riku asked.

"Let's go to Disney Castle to see if the Queen has any information." Donald suggested.

"Alright." Sora agreed. With that, Roxas flew the Falcon Peak to Disney Castle.

* * *

AN: Well that's another chapter down.

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_Your support is much appreciated_


	10. Face to Face Confrontion

**Chapter 10 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**Disney Castle**_

The party arrived at Disney Castle. Roxas docked the Gummi ship in the Gummi Hangar. Everyone stepped out of the Gummi ship. Donald, Goofy, and Mickey were happy to be home even though they hadn't been gone that long. Roxas, Riku, Kairi, Naminé, Terra, Aqua, and Ven stared around the hangar amazed. Suddenly, Chip and Dale came running in front of the group. "Oh thank goodness you're here!" Dale said.

"There's big trouble bruin! Queen Minnie request's your presence at once!" Chip said.

"Let's go!" Sora exclaimed and everyone quickly left the Gummi Hangar.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They exited the doors and entered the castle courtyard. There were many different plants around but some were trimmed to look like cartoon characters with instruments. The party members who hadn't been there before were admiring the new area as well, but before they could get to the library, they heard a sound from the sky. "Oh no. They've come here too." the scared chipmunks said.

"Who?" Terra asked. The chipmunks pointed into the sky. Everyone looked up to see about thirty human looking robots descending into the courtyard with propellers sticking out of their heads. Strangely enough, they were all wearing business suits.

"This castle is now ours! Give up!" one Cog said.

"No a chance!" Mickey answered as everyone summoned their weapons. The Cogs all attacked at once, so the party split up to take them down simultaneously. Sora dashed in between a group of five Cogs, and cast a Magnega spell. All five Cogs were sucked into it. Sora then quickly cast a Thundaga spell, which zapped them all, and caused them all to explode into scorched scrap metal.

Naminé and Kairi both used Strike Raid, and destroyed four Cogs each. Aqua destroyed two Cogs with a single slash, and destroyed another with a Blizzard spell. Goofy smashed them with Save the King, while Donald cast his Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells with Save the Queen.

Ven cut through several easily with quick slashes. One Cog came up from behind and tried to grab him, but Ven rolled out of the way, and stabbed Wayward Wind through the Cog. Mickey destroyed scores of Cogs with his Pearl attacks, combined with slashes, and great agility. Riku's quick slashes cut through the Cogs easily. He then sent a Dark Aura at three more, easily taking them down. Terra cut down large Cogs with wide swings, while also using Fire spells to destroy smaller ones.

Roxas used his Light Quick Run, moved very fast around the courtyard, while glowing bright white. He cut through the rest of the Cogs while gliding forwards. He then finished the final three with Dual Bout. In an instant, they exploded.

"I take it that was the trouble?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah, those robot fellas have been poppin' up all over the town, but some of them reached the castle." Chip said.

"Let's hurry and make sure Minnie's safe." Mickey said. Everyone quickly exited the Courtyard and ran all the way to the library. They entered and saw Queen Minnie standing in the room's center.

"Minnie!" Mickey said.

"Oh, King Mickey thank goodness you're here!" Minnie said as she ran and hugged Mickey. "Oh and you brought the others too"

"Your Majesty." Donald and Goofy said as they, and Sora, bowed in respect. The others immediately followed suit.

"Queen Minnie, what are those things?" Riku asked.

"I'm not sure myself." Minnie answered. But suddenly it struck Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

"THE COGS!" they all said (AN: In case you're confused, this is from the online game ToonTown).

"The Cogs?" Sora said in confusion.

"So what exactly are they?" Kairi asked. Before Mickey could answer there was another voice.

Donald Duck!" the female voice yelled from behind. Donald turned around shaking only to see Daisy behind him.

"Daisy?"

She walked up to him and stomped on his flipper. "Ow, ow! What was that for?" Donald said while rubbing his sore flipper.

"You missed our date again!" Daisy shouted.

"Look Daisy I can explain." Donald tried to reason.

"Who's she?" Terra asked.

"That's Daisy. She's Donald's very special sweetheart." Goofy answered.

"Is she now?" Ven said with a mischievous look.

"Anyway, what were you saying about these Cogs?" Sora asked Mickey.

"They're evil robots that are trying to engulf this world in darkness. There's a town on the outskirts of the castle called ToonTown. At first the Cogs were only able to take over parts of the town, but now it seems they've reached the castle." Mickey answered.

"Where're they comin' from?" Goofy asked.

"From the Central Cog Building." Mickey answered.

"Couldn't you have just gone over and destroyed it. Those Cogs aren't very strong." Riku said.

"I would if I could, but down in that area there are many Cog Buildings before it. Inside those buildings are Cogs much stronger than the ones we just fought. Considering their numbers and strength, I wouldn't have enough strength to destroy them all." Mickey answered in sadnes.

"Then we'll do it together." Naminé suggested.

"So where is ToonTown exactly?" Roxas asked.

"In the northwestern part of the town outside the castle." Minnie answered.

With that, the party quickly exited the castle, and headed northwest. Mickey and Minnie set a protective barrier around the castle using the Cornerstone of Light.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

After a lot of running, the group finally made it to ToonTown.

**(AN: Imagine a bunch of wacky cartoony things happening on screen, and then they form the ToonTown logo.)**

_**ToonTown**_

"So this is ToonTown." Sora said as he took in the area around him.

"The name suits the appearance." Terra added in as he observed the appearance, and the people of the town. They looked around and noticed that everything seemed normal.

"No Cogs around here." Aqua said.

"I doubt that'll last long." Kairi assured. Then Ven noticed a Gag shop that said '_Goofy's Gag Shop_', and had a picture of Goofy with some gags on it.

"Goofy, why are you on that gag shop sign?" Ven asked.

"Oh, I own the place." Goofy answered.

"Cool." Sora said in amazement.

"Hey guys, look at that!" Kairi pointed ahead. Everyone looked ahead to see Cogs were entering buildings, and turning them into Cog Buildings.

"Not good." Roxas said. Everyone then noticed Vanitas appear from nowhere and enter a building.

"Him again?" Terra said.

"What's he doing here?" Aqua wondered.

"Let's go after him and find out." Naminé said. The party ran into the building after Vanitas.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they reached the inside, the party looked around the inside of the building to see everything was black and white, like the outside, and it looked like a giant office building. Suddenly, a large wave of Cogs marched towards the party. "Well, here comes the welcome party." Ven said.

"We don't have time for this! Move it!" Terra shouted as he summoned Ends of the Earth and charged at the incoming Cogs. Terra easily took them out with powerful swings. Everyone, except Aqua and Ven, stared in amazement at Terra's brute strength.

With the Cogs destroyed, the party proceeded into an elevator. Sora kept pushing the button for the top floor, but the elevator did nothing.

"Stupid piece of junk!" Sora yelled as he punched the button panel in frustration.

"Let me." Roxas said. He raised his foot and smashed it through the panel. He removed his foot for everyone to see a large hole in the center, with wires, and broken parts sticking out, that were sparking. The elevator light went to the top floor, and the elevator rose to the top floor.

"Nice." Sora complimented as the party clapped for Roxas.

"Eh, you learn these things when you travel." Roxas replied with a bow.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they reached the top floor, the doors opened to show them they were in a large office room. Vanitas was standing at the other end of the room, waiting for them.

"Alright, talk! Who are you?" Terra demanded.

"Why don't you come over and find out? Unless under all that muscle, your just a big chicken." Vanitas mocked.

"Shut up!" Terra shouted as he summoned Ends of the Earth and jumped towards Vanitas. He swung down Ends of the Earth, but Vanitas simply side stepped as Terra's Keyblade struck where he was standing.

"What?" Terra said, surprised Vanitas dodged his attack like it was child's play. Vanitas retaliated with a strong spin kick, his heel violently connecting with Terra's face. The strike sent Terra flying back, but he easily recovered in the air. He slid across the floor a bit, but managed to stop himself quickly.

"Now, let's see what you're really capable of." Vanitas taunted.

"You asked for it!" Terra replied.

* * *

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_Your support is much appreciated_


	11. The End of the Cogs

**Chapter 11 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

Sora quickly cast a Firaga from the Kingdom Key at Vanitas. Vanitas jumped in the air and slammed his heel down on the spell, sending the Firaga into the ceiling, leaving a large, flaming hole. Terra charged at him with his Keyblade ready. Terra slashed down Ends of the Earth, but Vanitas dodged it easily. Vanitas quickly counterattacked with a series of skillful punches and kicks at Terra. Terra could just barely dodge the strikes, let alone keep up with them. Vanitas then punched at Terra faster than normal. Terra raised his Keyblade and blocked the strike, but the force sent him sliding back.

"You okay, Terra?" Sora asked as everyone ran to Terra's side and summoned their weapons.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Terra answered as he stood up and everyone got into their battle stance.

"Finally fighting seriously, eh? Alright then." Vanitas calmly said as he extended his hand out to the party. They were confused, when suddenly, in a flash of purple fire, the Void Gear Keyblade appeared in his hand. The blade's had various metal shapes about it, with a gear in the center, and a chain wrapped around the length of the blade. The teeth were black, with a red outline, and had a round, cog-like shape. It had two, blue, demonic eyes on it. One near the tip of the blade, and the other embedded in the guard. Its Keychain token was a gear split in two, making it look like an "S".

* * *

_Play this music: Enter the Darkness - Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep_

* * *

**(AN: Make sure while you're playing the theme that you wait and read Vanitas's next line when the video hits 0:16)**

The entire party was shocked when they all saw the Keyblade appear in Vanitas's hand. They didn't know that Vanitas was also a Keyblade wielder.

"A Keyblade?-!" Sora said in complete surprise.

**(YouTube video hits 0:16)**

"Now, show me your strength." Vanitas said.

Sora used Sonic Blade and speared forward with the Kingdom Key forward. Vanitas simply side stepped, dodging the attack as if it were nothing. He quickly grabbed Sora's left arm, and threw him towards a wall. Sora quickly recovered, and planted his feet on the wall. Vanitas then charged Void Gear with darkness and stabbed his Keyblade into the ground. The dark energy was channeled throughout the entire floor, and triggered a large explosion. The party was sent high into the air. While flying up, Terra opened his eyes to see Vanitas suddenly appear in front of him, and swing his Keyblade towards Terra's face.

Terra's eyes widened as he saw he wouldn't have time to block or dodge the attack. Aqua suddenly appeared, and blocked Vanitas's Keyblade with Stormfall. She pushed him back, and floated next to Terra, as did the others. "You guys." Terra said.

"We can do this together." Ven assured.

"We're here for you." Aqua added in.

"Thanks." Terra said, and the party charged Vanitas all at once.

However, despite the fact it was eleven to one, Vanitas was overcoming their every move, and countering with more powerful moves. Roxas flew in, and attacked with a large combo of swings, but Vanitas was able to block, deflect, and dodge them all. "How weak." Vanitas mocked as he swung upwards with Void Gear. Roxas managed to block, but the force knocked his Keyblades up and sent him flying. Before Roxas could recover, Vanitas appeared above him, and landed a powerful kick to Roxas's back. Roxas flew down at great speeds and crashed into the building below.

Kairi and Naminé both went into Wisdom Form, and fired Wisdom Shot bullets at Vanitas, who dodged them with ease. Donald also began shooting magic at Vanitas in tandem with the girls. Vanitas quickly disappeared and appeared behind the three. He slashed his Keyblade at them. Goofy luckily appeared in front of him blocked the strike, pushing him back. Riku and Mickey came in, and attacked with a fast combo of slashes. Vanitas blocked their many strikes with ease. Vanitas swung hard with Void Gear at Mickey and knocked him away.

Riku quickly retaliated with a series of fast swings. Vanitas countered with slashes of his own, sending sparks flying. Vanitas feinted one of Riku's strikes and knocked him off guard. Vanitas then point the tip of Void Gear right in front of Riku's abdomen. He cast a Dark Fire spell that hit Riku point-blank. The spell sent Riku flying back. Vanitas then pointed Void Gear towards the sky, and launched a fireball above him. The fireball stopped in midair, and broke into three smaller fireballs, raining down on the party. Sora, Kairi, and Naminé were hit by the fireballs and fell towards the city below.

"Hmph, Is that the best you guys can do? What a joke." Vanitas mocked the party. Terra, Aqua, and Ven roared down on Vanitas from above, but the dark enigma instantly vanished in a flash of darkness before the trio's Keyblades could hit him.

"Over here." Vanitas called as he appeared a good distance behind them.

Mickey quickly charged up his light powers into Kingdom Key D. When it was done, Mickey cast Healing Light on everyone, healing Sora, Kairi, Naminé and completely. The three recovered in midair, and Sora transformed into Valor Form. He flew towards Vanitas, and summoned Fenrir to his right hand, and Sleeping Lion to his left. Sora then used Sonic Strike, and speared towards Vanitas with his Keyblades out in front. Vanitas attempted to attack, but the speed and force of the strike knocked him off balance. Sora came back around, and hit Vanitas with Brave Beat, spinning rapidly with his Keyblades, like a twister. The attack knocked Vanitas back. Sora then used Sonic End, and slashed furiously at Vanitas, ending with a powerful "X" slash that sent Vanitas flying forward.

Sora attempted to attack again, but Vanitas recovered quickly, and flew higher than Sora. He swung his Keyblade and rained dark lightning bolts down on him. Sora crossed his arms, and swung wide with both Keyblades, easily destroying the lightning bolts. Sora exited Valor Form, and entered Wisdom Form. He cast a Stopga on Vanitas, which luckily froze him in place. Roxas flew back up from the large dust cloud from when he crashed into the building. He saw Vanitas frozen, so quickly used Enhanced Aerial Roll. He flew towards Vanitas with his Keyblades spinning around him and three Light Beams at both sides. Roxas flew passed him as the attack made contact. Vanitas was then released from the Stopga, and bent over in defeat, but stood up straight a second later. "Not bad, but not good enough." Vanitas said.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

"I'll admit you three are strong, but it's still not enough." Vanitas added in.

"What?" Terra said. Vanitas pointed the Void Gear down. Everyone looked down to see the entire world was slowly turning black and white.

"Oh no!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Soon your world will be taken over completely." Vanitas said. He brought his Keyblade up, and a ball of dark energy formed at the head. Vanitas dark orb fired into the air, which scattered into many smaller dark orbs. The dark orbs all landed in different spots in ToonTown, and when they hit the ground, Cogs of all kinds appeared from the dark portals the orbs created. The Cogs extended their head propellers, and they flew towards Disney Castle. Vanitas then fired another orb of dark energy from his Keyblade at the castle. The dark orb destroyed the castle's barrier on impact.

Vanitas then disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness.

"C'mon we've got to hurry!" Terra exclaimed. Everyone quickly landed and headed back to the castle.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Disney Castle_**

Chip and Dale looked out the window of the castle hearing what sounded like propellers. They were shocked to see the large army of Cogs headed for the Castle. They quickly ran to Queen Minnie. "Queen Minnie! Queen Minnie!" Dale called.

"There's big trouble!" Dale said.

"What is it?" Minnie asked.

"The barrier's been destroyed!" Chip answered.

"And there's a large army of Cog's headed for the castle!" Dale added in.

"Oh my!" Queen Minnie said in shock.

"What should we do?" Chip and Dale panicked.

"We must get everyone in the castle to a safe place." Minnie answered. She, and the chipmunks quickly gathered everyone, and lead them to the Hall of the Cornerstone, where the darkness couldn't touch them.

At that moment, the Cogs had arrived at the castle. They used their powers to turn the castle into a very large business building. The Hall of the Cornerstone was the only spot in the castle unaffected by the Cog's power. The party arrived to see they were too late.

"Damn it, we're too late!" Riku yelled.

"We have to destroy them all to return the castle to normal." Mickey said. Everyone landed and entered the front doors of cog turned building.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party entered the Cog building, a giant Cog appeared before them. It fired a volley of missiles at the party. They were luckily all able to dodge them.

Riku and Sora quickly activated their Eternal Session Limit. "Riku!" Sora called.

"Out of my way!" Riku said to the Cog. The two jumped forward, and attacked with a series of powerful slashes to the Cog. "Is that all you got?" Riku said as they attacked with Last Saber, and executed a series of powerful jabs. Then they used Dark Cannon, and fired a series of blue fireballs at the Cog. The attacks started to wear down the Cog.

"I'll take 'em." Riku smirked as they began Master Hearts. They extended their Keyblades lengths with yellow and blue energy. Sora's Keyblade was now a long golden sword, while Riku's was a long blue sword. They delivered a series of fast, wide slashes that easily cut into the Cogs metal body. Now they used XIII Blades. Sora and Riku summoned thirteen light blades that spun around them while they still attacked with Master Hearts, badly damaging the giant Cog even further.

Finally they finished up with All's End. "You're gonna lose it all!" Riku exclaimed as he and Sora tossed their Keyblades into the air. Both Keyblades fired a beam of light and darkness at each other. The energy got larger and the beams began shooting blast of energy at each other that destroyed each other on impact. The energy finally created a large explosion of light. "Time's up." Riku said as he and Sora caught their Keyblades, and knocked fists. With that over, the party proceeded further into the building. When they reached the main hall, they saw that the room split into four different direction. "Guess we have to split up." Goofy said. The party nodded in agreement.

Terra, Roxas, and Ven went down the far left path, Naminé, Kairi, and Riku went down the middle left path, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy went down the middle right path, and Sora and Aqua went down the far right path.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the separate groups reached the end of their respective paths, they noticed a dark portal at the end of each path. They all then passed through the portals, ready for whatever was waiting for them.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When Roxas, Terra, and Ven exited their portal, they found themselves standing in front of the Sellbot HQ building. Roxas scouted the area and noticed two Cogs guarding the entrance. He quickly sent out two light lasers and cut through the Cogs with ease. They quickly entered the building to deal with any enemies on the inside. When they reached the inside, they found themselves in a giant room, filled with Cogs of all kinds. The Cogs marched towards the trio.

"You guys ready for this?" Terra asked as he summoned Ends of the Earth.

"You bet." Roxas and Ven answered as they summoned their Keyblades, and all three charged the Cog army. Roxas ran ahead of the two, and used Dual Bout. He slid passed the entire army of Cogs while slashing Oblivion. Two rows of Cogs were instantly destroyed from the attack. Terra jumped above the Cogs and brought down Ends of the Earth. He instantly took down three Cogs at once, and caused an impact that knocked other Cogs off balance. Terra quickly did a three-sixty degree slash and destroyed several Cogs surrounding him.

Cogs began charging towards Ven, who cut them down easily with quick slashes from Wayward Wind. Two Cogs tried to attack Ven from behind, only for Terra to intercept them, and finish them in one attack. Roxas charged his way through the Cog army, while slashing them down as he ran passed. Second by second, the Cog army's numbers was constantly decreasing, until there was only one left. The Cog tried to run away, but Roxas threw Oathkeeper at it. The Keyblade slashed through the Cog and returned to Roxas's hand. A light shined on one of the walls, and then faded to reveal a door like the one that led to Timeless River.

When the guys came through the doors, they found themselves at the top of the Cog Building. In front of them stood a gigantic Cog with unique looking features such as treads for legs, and a more robotic head compared to the other Cogs. Though its most noticible feature was the fact that it was a giant compared to the other Cogs. This Cog was the Vice President, the leader of the Sellbots. The V.P. looked down to the three Keyblade wielders. "Well, well, what have we here?" the V.P. said.

"Do you have to ask?" Ven said.

* * *

_Play this music:_ _Desire For All That Is Lost - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

"Prepare to die!" the V.P. shouted as it leaped very high into the air, and down towards the trio.

"Run!" Terra yelled. They quickly scrambled as the V.P. came crashing down onto the spot they were standing. As soon as the V.P. made contact with the ground, it created a powerful shock wave that sent the three Keybearers flying and crashing into the ground. Ven quickly flipped onto his feet, and charged towards the V.P.. The V.P. spun its upper body around, and sent several gears flying towards Ven.

Ven used his incredible speed to dodge the incoming gears and continued his charge towards the V.P.. Ven jumped up and swung Wayward Wind at the V.P.'s face. The V.P., however, swung its arm, and knocked Ven back. Ven quickly used aerial recover and landed on his feet. The V.P. quickly brought its other arm down on Ven. Ven leaped out of the way as the arm came crashing down behind him. Terra charged towards the V.P. while its attention was focused on Ven.

Terra swung up with Ends of the Earth, smacking the V.P.'s arm back, and knocking it off balance. Ven quickly came back around and jumped towards the V.P.'s chest. He swung Wayward Wind, and pushed the V.P. back. As it slid back, Roxas jumped onto Terra's left arm. Terra swung his left arm, and launched Roxas directly for the V.P.'s head. Roxas used Aerial Roll and flew towards the V.P. with even greater speed, while his Keyblades spun around him. Unfortunately, the V.P. recovered a second quicker than Roxas could attack, and spun its body rapidly. When Roxas's Keyblades made contact with the spinning Cog, he was instantly repelled and sent crashing into the ground, making a small crater.

"You okay Roxas?" Ven called as he got ready for the V.P.'s next attack. Roxas groaned as he jumped out of the crater.

"Aside from a major headache, and a slight dizziness, I'm just great." Roxas answered with much sarcasm. The V.P. continued spinning, and fired a large number of gears at Terra. Terra held Ends of the Earth in front of him and blocked the gears that would've hit him, while the others flew passed him. When the barrage of gears stopped, Terra quickly cast a Fire spell at the V.P.'s face. While the spell didn't have any effect, the smoke from the explosion was enough for Ven to fly up, and stab Wayward Wind into the V.P.'s chest.

The V.P. thrashed around as sparks flew out from the damage caused by Ven. Ven ripped out Wayward Wind, and jumped back, as the V.P. started backing up slowly. Roxas flew down from above and slashed the V.P. across its chest diagonally, leaving two large slashes in it. "N-No, there's no way! There's no way I could be defeated like this! There's just no way!" the V.P. yelled as it jumped very high into the air and flew towards Terra.

"Terra, knock this one out the park!" Ven called. Terra smirked and got into a batting position as the V.P. flew towards him.

"Come on, give me one right over the plate." Terra said as he tapped Ends of the Earth's head on the ground a few times. When the V.P. was close enough, Terra swung his Keyblade like a bat, and nailed it right on its undercarriage. The V.P. screamed as the force of the impact sent it flying very VERY high into the air. "It's going, going," Terra began. The V.P. flew down passed the edge of the building to the bottom. After four seconds, the three heard the sound of a loud crash and metal parts spilling across the ground below.

"GONE!" Ven and Roxas finished for Terra as they threw their fists up in unison.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

As soon as the V.P. was defeated, a portal of light appeared in front of the trio.

"Let's go." Terra said. Roxas and Ven nodded, and the three walked into the portal.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Play this music:_ _Desire For All That Is Lost - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Meanwhile, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were fighting against the Chief Financial Officer, the leader of the Cashbots, inside the Cashbot HQ. It's appearance was the same as the VP, except its suit was green, and its head was styled after a cash register with a dollar sign on the top. So far they were having a lot of trouble fighting against this Cog because it was constantly throwing a barrage of heavy steal safes at them. "Your Majesty, what do we do?" Goofy asked.

"Over here Goofy!" Mickey called over. Goofy quickly maneuvered his way through the barrage of incoming safes. When he reached Mickey, Mickey empowered Save the King with Holy magic. Goofy then used Goofy Bash and threw Save the King towards the C.F.O.. The C.F.O. quickly took a safe, and placed it on its head as a helmet. Save the King bounced off the safe, but managed to leave a large cut in the steal cube. Mickey quickly jumped towards the C.F.O.'s head, and swung up with Kingdom Key D. The swing managed to knock the safe off the C.F.O.'s head.

Mickey looked behind him and spotted one of the magnet cranes nearby. "Donald, get his attention!" Mickey called.

"Alright Your Majesty!" Donald replied. Donald quickly used his Duck Flare Limit, and launched wave after wave of magical rockets at the C.F.O.. The rockets hit it from all over, but the small explosions had very little effect, and only annoyed the C.F.O.. Donald then used Megaduck Flare, and continuously fired rockets at the C.F.O. from about every direction for five seconds. This angered the C.F.O. greatly, and it quickly turned its attention to Donald.

"Pesky little toon! Begone!" the C.F.O. shouted as its head started glowing red in anger and it started throwing safes at Donald. Goofy quickly came in between, and used Goofy Tornado. He spun rapidly with his shield out, and deflected incoming safes as they came. Donald then quickly used an Ether to restore his magic, and used his Fantasia Limit. He skipped Comet and immediately used Comet Rain. Large, colorful fireworks began exploding around the C.F.O.'s head blinding it front the bright lights.

Donald saw Mickey had reached the magnet crane. "Your Majesty, do it now!" called. Mickey nodded, and quickly activated the crane. He used it to pick up a safe lying on the ground and pulled it back as far as he could. When the cranes turn reached its limit, Mickey swung the crane in the opposite direction he was turning it, swinging the safe towards the C.F.O.. Donald and Goofy quickly covered their heads as the safe was seconds from hitting the C.F.O..

When the safe smacked the C.F.O.'s head, the head instantly shattered into piles of broken scrap metal.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

With the C.F.O. defeated, a portal of light opened up, and the three stepped through.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

_Play this music: Desire For All That Is Lost - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Riku, Kairi, and Naminé were fighting off a large number Cogs in the Lawbot HQ, which appeared as a giant courtroom. Naminé swung Two Become One horizontally, and cut down two Cogs. A Cog snuck up behind Naminé, but she stabbed behind her, and took down the Cog. A large number of Cogs managed to surround Kairi. She quickly jumped into the air with the Cogs flying up after her. When they reached her, Kairi unleashed a fast barrage of slashes with Destiny Place. The Cogs were cut down quickly as they flew towards Kairi. The Cogs in the air crashed to the ground in a pile of sliced up parts. Riku slashed through groups of Cogs easily with fast swings from Way to The Dawn. He then fired several Dark Aura's, destroying two Cogs with each shot.

Kairi quickly used Sonic Blade and speared through rows of Cogs with ease. When the final Cogs were destroyed, the Chief Justice Cog came crashing down from above. "So I take it you're the leader here." Riku said pointing Way to the Dawn at the giant Cog.

"Indeed I am. For the crimes you three have committed here, I hereby sentence you three to DEATH!" the C.J. shouted as it jumped high into the air, and landed on the judge chair. Giant gavels came out of the floor, and started swinging hard at the trio. They quickly jumped into the air to avoid the hammers. The gavels then started swinging up at them. Riku pushed the girls out of the way as one was heading towards them. Riku stabbed Way to The Dawn into the gavel to try and stop it, but the force of the swing was too strong, and it pushed Riku back towards a wall. Riku quickly pulled his Keyblade out of the gavel, and flew out of the way as the gavel collided with the wall, shattering into wooden chips.

Kairi and Naminé maneuvered through the swinging gavels towards the C.J.. The C.J. summoned two giant spiked gavels of steel, and swung them at the girls. Kairi flew over the first swing, which narrowly missed her. Naminé flew over the second swing and landed on the gavels head. She ran down the length of the gavel towards the C.J.. The C.J. brought the first gavel back towards Naminé to stop her. Naminé jumped over the swing easily. The C.J. then lifted up the second gavel to take away Naminé's balance. Naminé took advantage of the gavels angle, and grinded down the shaft on her shoes. She then used Sonic Blade to increase her descent speed. Naminé pierced Two Become One into the C.J.'s chest. She then entered Valor Form, and stabbed Winner's Proof into the C.J.'s chest as well.

The C.J. dismissed its left gavel, and grabbed Naminé with its left hand. "Die!" the C.J. shouted as it jumped into the air, and tried to smash Naminé against the ceiling. When the C.J.'s hand was a few seconds away from the ceiling, Riku slashed the C.J.'s hand off with one swing, and grabbed Naminé out of the way as the C.J.'s handless arm crashed against the ceiling. Kairi entered Valor Form, and summoned Lady Luck to her left hand. Kairi flew down, and swung both Keyblades down.

The C.J. brought its remaining steel gavel up to block the incoming Keyblades. As soon as the Keyblades made contact with the steel gavel, they cut through it like a hot knife to butter, and slashed into the Cogs head. Kairi then removed her Keyblades and crossed her arms. She quickly swung her Keyblades horizontally, decapitating the Cog. Kairi jumped down as there was a large explosion, indicating the Cog's defeat. Kairi and Naminé exited Valor Form. "Great job!" they both cheered as they high fived each other.

"Hey Riku, thanks for saving us back there." Kairi said.

"No problem. Besides, Roxas and Sora would be mad if I let something bad happen to you guys." Riku said. A portal of light then opened up before the trio.

"Come on guys!" Naminé waved as she ran into the portal.

"Hey Naminé, wait up!" Riku called as he and Kairi ran into the portal after her.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sora and Aqua entered the Bossbot HQ, and found themselves in a giant room. Portraits of the C.E.O. Cog were all over the walls and there was a lit fireplace at the far end of the room. Sora and Aqua summoned their Keyblades, ready for an enemy attack. "Be ready for anything Sora." Aqua said.

"Right." Sora nodded.

"WHO GOES THERE?" a voice boomed behind them. Aqua and Sora jumped away from the voice's direction, and turned to face it. In front of them stood the Chief Executive Officer, the leader of the Bossbots.

* * *

_Play this music:_ _Desire For All That Is Lost - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

"INTRUDERS! BEGONE!" the C.E.O. yelled as it pulled out a giant golf club and swung down at Sora and Aqua. The two easily dodged as the club smashed into the floor. Sora jumped towards the C.E.O.'s head and swung Ultima Weapon. The C.E.O. dodged, and smacked Sora's back with its left hand, sending Sora crashing into the floor very hard.

"Ooowww!" Sora groaned as he rubbed his stinging back. Aqua quickly cast a Blizzard spell and froze the C.E.O.'s left hand while its attention was on Sora.

"Hah! Pathetic!" the C.E.O. said. It clenched its fist and shattered the ice covering its hand. The C.E.O. turned and swung its golf club horizontally towards Aqua. Aqua jumped over the club, and swung down with Stormfall, cutting the C.E.O.'s arm.

"AARRGGHH! HOW DARE YOU!" the C.E.O. yelled as it brought its golf club back towards Aqua. The swing was too fast to dodge, so Aqua attempted to block. The swing was too strong, and knocked Aqua to the floor, while also knocking Stormfall out of her hand. The C.E.O. didn't see Sora come from behind.

"Don't forget about me!" Sora called as he stabbed Ultima Weapon into the C.E.O.'s chassis. The C.E.O. yelled in pain as Sora let go of Ultima Weapon and summoned the Kingdom Key to his hand. He entered Limit Form and activated Ragnarok. Sora jumped towards the C.E.O.'s head, and pointed tip of Kingdom Key at its face as he charged the energy. Sora fired the round point-blank at the C.E.O.'s face, causing the C.E.O. fell back onto the ground. Sora quickly ran over to Aqua.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he kneeled down and made sure she was alright.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Aqua nodded as Sora helped her up and she pulled Stormfall from the floor. The two turned back to face the C.E.O. as it got back up.

"GGGGRRRRR! Nobody does that to me! YOU HEAR ME? NOBODY!" the C.E.O. shouted as it swung its golf club and fired a barrage of golf balls at the two Keybearers. Sora quickly exited Limit Form and cast Reflega to protect them. The golf balls ricocheted off the surface of the spell, but soon the shield began to crack from the hard impacts.

"Get down Sora!" Aqua called as she pushed Sora to the floor. She jumped on top of him to shield him from the oncoming golf balls. The golf balls soon enough smashed through the Reflega and flew passed the two. They smashed through the walls easily, as if the walls weren't there. Aqua got off Sora as he stared in shock of how the golf balls easily turned the walls around into swiss cheese.

"That could've been us. Thanks Aqua." Sora thanked as Aqua helped him up.

"Anytime." Aqua smiled. Their attention immediately went to the C.E.O., who was not happy they were still alive.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU TWO! TIME TO DIE!" the C.E.O. shouted as it brought its golf club back and charged the head with red energy.

"Sora, let's attack together. Use the light." Aqua suggested.

"Okay." Sora nodded in agreement. The two quickly got ready for the C.E.O.'s attack.

"DISAPPEAR!" the C.E.O. shouted as it swung its golf club, and fired an even bigger barrage of flaming golf balls towards Sora and Aqua.

"Light!" Sora and Aqua yelled as they pointed their Keyblades up and connected the tips. Light energy surrounded their bodies and created a shield of light around them. This time, the golf balls bounced off the surface of the shield, not even damaging in the slightest. When the barrage ended, the light shield disappeared. Aura's of light appeared around the two charged towards the C.E.O..

"You're finished!" Sora yelled as he jumped towards the C.E.O.. The C.E.O. swung its golf club at Sora as he swung down Kingdom Key. The light enhanced Keyblade had easily sliced through the golf club. Sora then flew towards the C.E.O. and slashed at its face. The CEO grabbed its face as Sora had cut it across the middle. Sora landed behind it, and quickly ripped Ultima Weapon out before jumping a good distance away. "Aqua, now!" Sora called.

Aqua jumped above the CEO, and slashed down with Stormfall. The C.E.O. froze in place just as Aqua finished her slash. She quickly jumped back as the C.E.O. split in half and exploded, leaving nothing but charred, flaming parts scattered across the room. Their aura's faded, and they dismissed their Keyblades.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

"We did it!" Sora cheered as he jumped and threw his fist up with excitement.

"You did great Sora." Aqua complimented with a smile.

"Thanks to you Aqua." Sora said with his hands behind his head. A portal of light had then opened up in front of the two. "Let's finish this."

Aqua nodded, and the two walked through the portal.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The four portals had exited into a large control room in a giant factory. The four groups exited through their portals. "Hey guys!" Sora waved. The groups met up in the middle of the room.

"Are you alright Kai? Sora asked.

"Of course. I'm not a weakling you know." Kairi replied.

"You're right." Sora chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"So is it over?" Ven asked.

"Not even close." a robotic voice said. Everyone turned their attention to the other end of the room. There stood a Cog, larger than regular Cogs, but smaller than the ones the party just fought.

"It's the original!" Mickey yelled as he summoned Kingdom Key D.

"You mean the original Cog?" Riku asked. Mickey nodded.

"So if we take this guy out, the Cogs are finished." Terra said, summoning Ends of the Earth.

"Fools, do you really believe it'll be that easy?" the original Cog questioned.

"Of course. You don't look like you're half as strong as those other guys." Roxas said. The room suddenly started shaking violently.

"Wh-what's going on?" Naminé said as she was trying to keep her balance. An opening in the ceiling opened up, and the remains of the four boss Cogs the party had just defeated dropped down. The parts crashed in front of the original Cog.

"Are those...?" Riku said.

"What's left of my strongest minions" the original Cog finished for Riku. "Now with their assistance, you will all perish, and this world will belong to me!"

Mechanical hands suddenly came down from the ceiling. They quickly began picking up parts, and started installing them onto the original Cog, while also upgrading them. Everyone could only watch in shock as the original Cog was growing stronger and bigger by the second. When the hands finished their work, they lifted up into the ceiling to reveal the original Cog, now with features of the four boss Cogs, and larger than any of them.

"Oh man." Ven said in shock at seeing the original Cog's new appearance.

"Can we win? Donald asked.

"Of course." Goofy assured.

"Wrong!" the original Cog exclaimed as its arms transformed into giant laser cannons. The weapons began humming louder and louder as energy built up in the chambers.

"Oh this might hurt a bit." Sora said in fear as bright lights were shining in the barrels of the lasers.

"Relax, this won't hurt a bit. It's gonna hurt a lot!" the original Cog shouted as it fired its laser cannons at the party. Everyone tried to evade, but Aqua was the only one who managed to evade the blasts. Everyone was sent crashing into the walls, and were knocked out cold.

"Guys!" Aqua cried, seeing everyone knocked out. Aqua's expression quickly turned into one of anger as she turned to face the original Cog, and summoned Stormfall.

"Don't worry, you'll all die in the end!" the original Cog shouted as it pointed its laser cannons at Aqua.

"That's never going to happen!" Aqua shouted. A light appeared inside Aqua's chest and began shining brightly. Soon enough, there was a burst of light energy from the light in her chest that blinded the Cog.

"Wh-what is this?" the original Cog questioned as the light energy spread around Aqua's body, and her Keyblade. The aura of light around Aqua and Stormfall radiated so brightly, the whole room was almost covered in white. While the original Cog was blinded by the light, Aqua quickly pointed Stormfall at it and fired a large beam of light energy at it. The beam pierced through the Cog's chest, leaving a large hole. Aqua then jumped above the original Cog, and slashed down. Stormfall cut through the Cog's armor easily, and cleaved it in half no problem.

"I-It can't be! AAAAAARRRGGGGGHHHH!" the orignal Cog screamed as its body was engulfed with light, and then quickly disintegrated into ash. The light around Aqua had faded, and brightness of the room returned to normal. Soon enough, Aqua quickly felt lightheaded, and collapsed on the ground and her vision was slowly being consumed by darkness.

"Terra. Ven. Everyone." Aqua muttered just before she lost consciousness.

**_Half an hour later_**

Aqua slowly opened her eyes to see everyone awake and around her. "You're finally awake." Ven said with relief.

"Are you guys alright?" Aqua groaned as she sat up.

"We're just fine. So what happened to the Cog?" Riku asked. Aqua quickly remembered everything that happened before she lost consciousness. The cog knocking everyone else out, her becoming angry, a bright light shining around her that increased her strength, and finally, her attacking and destroying the Cog with ease.

"I beat it." Aqua answered. Everyone was nothing short of shocked at hearing those words escape Aqua's lips.

"But how?" Sora questioned.

"I'm not sure myself." Aqua answered.

"Well it doesn't matter. As long as we destroy this place, it's over." Naminé said. Aqua nodded and stood up.

"So how are we going to destroy this huge place?" Kairi asked. Suddenly, an alarm sounded that rang throughout the entire building.

"_The self destruct system has been initiated. I repeat. The self destruct system has been initiated. All personal evacuate immediately._" a female robotic voice announced on the intercom.

"I guess the building's gonna do the job for us. Book it!" Sora yelled. Everyone quickly ran through the portal of light that appeared before them. The portal closed behind them as soon as everyone was through.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party exited the portal, they found themselves in Disney Castle, no longer a Cog Building. "Thank goodness your all safe." Minnie walked up to them.

"Hey, but what about-" Sora began.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

There was a large explosion of light from where the Cog Buildings were. Everyone looked in awe of the magnitude of the explosion. As soon as the light faded, all the Cog Buildings returned to being toon buildings, and any remaining Cogs just poofed out of existence.

"Never mind." Sora finished, dumbfounded.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Peace was now restored to Disney Castle, but the party was very exhausted from the intense fighting. They stayed the night to regain their strength. Roxas and Naminé were sitting on the edge of a large fountain in the castle's central garden, watching the moon and the night stars. Roxas knew immediately what he had to do.

"Hey, Nam?" Roxas asked.

"Yes, Roxie?" Naminé giggled. Roxas scowled at his new nickname, but quickly got back on topic.

"I, uh, got something for you." he said as he pulled a box out of his pocket, and handed it to Naminé.

She opened it, to reveal the beautiful sapphire heart shaped necklace he bought for her in Agrabah. Naminé's eyes widened instantly at the necklaces's majestic beauty. "It's called the Heart of the Ocean." Roxas said.

"It's so beautiful." Naminé awed as she stared at the necklace. The necklace started shining brighter as it reflected the light off the water in the fountain, which also reflected in Naminé's eyes.

"But not as beautiful as you." Roxas complimented . Namine smiled, and blushed at Roxas. Roxas took the necklace, slipped it around her neck, and connected the two end pieces of the chain together.

"It matches your eyes." Roxas added in. Namine just continued to blush at Roxas's compliments, until she remembered she also had a present to give.

"That reminds me, I also have a present for you." Naminé said.

"Really? What?" Roxas asked.

"Close your eyes." Naminé said. Roxas complied, and closed his eyes, waiting for Naminé's present. Roxas felt Naminé take his right hand in hers, and place something in it. "Okay open them."

Roxas opened his eyes and looked at his hand to see Naminé had placed a star shaped charm of Thalassa Shells with a small chain attached to the top tip. There was a drawing of a smile face on the top shell with spiky, golden blonde hair, just like Roxas's hair. The small token the center of the shells was a brown version of Roxas's jacket zipper

Roxas looked in amazement at Naminé's gift. "Did you make this?" he asked.

"Yeah," Naminé nodded. "It wasn't kind of hard."

"You did a wonderful job." Roxas replied.

"Thanks." Naminé said as she pulled out a second charm that looked the same as the one she gave Roxas, except the smile face on hers's hair was like Naminé 's, and the token in the middle was a brown, five-pointed star. "This way, no matter how far apart we may be, we'll always find our way back to each other. We can always be together." Naminé said snuggling against Roxas.

"Yeah... Definitely." Roxas muttered as he pulled Naminé closer and they continued watching the night sky.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi were alone in Sora's room. They were reflecting on the past, and thinking about what the future might be like. "Oh right. I've got something for you Kairi." Sora said. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small box, and handed it to Kairi. Kairi opened it, and her eyes immediately glew with awe as she laid her eyes on the beautiful sapphire heart necklace Sora got her.

"This is for me?" Kairi asked.

"Of course." Sora nodded. Sora removed the necklace from the box and placed it around Kairi's neck. "It's called the Heart of Eternity." Sora said.

"It's really pretty. Thanks Sora." Kairi said.

"No problem at all." Sora said.

"Oh, that's right! I have something for you too." Kairi said.

"What is it?" Sora asked. Kairi took Sora's right hand in her left, and reached in her pocket with her right. She took an object out of her pocket an placed it in Sora's hand. After she let his hand go, Sora looked at his hand to see she placed a Wayfinder just like hers in his hand.

"Isn't this yours?" Sora asked.

"Yep. I've decided it belongs you now." Kairi answered as she pulled her out another Wayfinder from her other pocket. Sora looked at her Wayfinder to see the notable differences. Unlike his, Kairi's new Wayfinder had a heart token in the center instead of a crown, and the face at the top shells was drawn to look like Kairi.

"Gee, thanks Kai." Sora thanked. The two shared a quick kiss before snuggling against each other.

"Hey Sora?" Kairi said.

"Yeah?"

"Remember what I said. Don't ever change." Kairi said.

"Don't worry, I won't." Sora answered.

"Thank you."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Aqua was sitting on the edge of a balcony, thinking about the strange light that appeared from her when she fought the original Cog, and about how Jafar and Hades wanted to capture her. "_Why were those guys after me? What was that light inside me? _... _ No it couldn't be. Could I be the_..._? No, I'm just imagining things._" Aqua said as she watched the stars.

* * *

AN: Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for having you constantly play and stop the music, but it helps make the scene shifts work better.

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_


	12. The Cavern of Remembrance

**Chapter 12 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**The Lanes Between**_

After resting up, and retrieving the Light, the party decided to go to Radiant Garden to see how things were doing.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Radiant Garden_**

When they arrived, they saw the town was in much better shape than it was three months ago. "Whoa." Sora said in amazement of how much more beautiful the town was looking.

"I guess the restoration's goin' really nicely." Goofy added in.

"It's a really nice looking place." Ven complimented while looking around. As they observed the town, Aqua, Terra, and Ven couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about the town. Like they had been there before.

Suddenly, the entire world began rumbling violently.

"What's going on?" Donald said as the rumbling shook him around.

"Look, over there!" Roxas pointed. Everyone looked ahead to see Roxas was pointing at the castle. A bright glow shined around the castle before bursting into the sky, forming a large pillar of light.

"Let's go!" Sora said and everyone ran in to the castle.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When everyone arrived at the front of the castle, they saw all the entrances were blocked by the light. "Great, now how are we supposed to get in?" Riku said. The Kingdom Key suddenly appeared in Sora's hand.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, surprised that the Keyblade appeared on its own. The Kingdom Key pulled itself forward and pointed to the wall of the castle. A beam of light shot off the tip and destroyed a small part of the wall, creating an opening into the castle.

"I guess that's our way in." Aqua said. Everyone walked through the hole, and jumped down the hole in the floor.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Cavern of Remembrance_**

* * *

_Play this music: Cavern of Remembrance - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_

**_(AN: This music is very calm and relaxing. I think you will all enjoy it)_**

* * *

When they landed, they found themselves in the depths Cavern of Remembrance. Everyone jumped off the ledge they were on to the area below.

"Who would've thought something like this was under the castle." Roxas commented.

"I doubt even Maleficent knows about this place." Riku said.

Soon enough, several Heartless spawned in front of them. They consisted of Magic Phantoms, Iron Hammers, and Jumbo Cannons. "Well, this is new." Sora said as he summoned the Kingdom Key. The Magic Phantoms swung their candle holding arms and fired several dark fireballs towards the party. Everyone dodged them easily, and Sora charged towards the Trick Phantoms. He jumped up and slashed down on one, only for the Kingdom Key to phase through it.

"What?" was all Sora could say in surprise. The Magic Phantom swung its arm and smacked Sora to the ground.

Sora!" Kairi quickly rushed over and slashed the Magic Phantom with Destiny's Embrace, only to have the same result as Sora. Kairi quickly jumped back before the Magic Phantom could attack. The Jumbo Cannons all fired bombs into the air, which quickly rained down onto the party. Riku quickly cast Dark Shield and blocked the bombs, which exploded on impact with the shield. Terra looked up to see an Iron Hammer swing its hammerhead down on him. Terra quickly brought up Ends of the Earth and blocked the strike, but the force pushed him down on one knee.

"They're so strong." Terra grunted as he tried to push the Iron Hammer off him. Ven came up behind the Iron Hammer and destroyed it with a slash from wayward Wind. Naminé quickly used Ars Arcanum on another Iron Hammer, but it was able to endure all the slashes.

"They're so much different from normal Heartless." Naminé said. The Iron Hammer charged at Naminé, but Roxas swung down Oblivion and destroyed it. Suddenly, three Magic Phantoms turned into their upside down forms, and fired several dark fireballs at Aqua. Aqua closed her eyes and braced herself, seeing that they were too fast to dodge. But she didn't feel any pain. When Aqua opened her eyes, she saw a Reflect protected her from the attacks. But the strange thing was, no one else had cast the Reflect. She saw her hand was instinctively held outward, showing she was the one who cast it. Like a Reflect would be cast in the air, it was in the shape of a sphere, protecting her from every angle.

"_How did I do this?_" Aqua thought. A soon as she was out of the Reflect, Aqua quickly cast a Thunder, Blizzard, and Fire spell on the Magic Phantoms. The three spells managed to injure the Heartless. Donald noticed this, and quickly cast a Firaga that instantly destroyed the Magic Phantoms. Riku fired several Dark Aura's and damaged the Jumbo Cannons. Sora quickly slid in with Sliding Dash, and destroyed the Jumbo Cannons. He quickly turned around and destroyed a Magic Phantom with a Blizzaga.

Goofy blocked the attack of an Iron Hammer, and knocked it into the air with Goofy Smash. Terra jumped up after it, and finished it with a downward slash. Another Iron Hammer smashed its hammerhead down on Ven. He quickly rolled out of the way as the hammerhead impacted the ground. Ven quickly came back and hit the Iron Hammer several times with Wayward Wind , but it still wasn't dead. Ven then cast an Aero spell, which made a small green storm of wind that spun around Ven, and destroyed the Iron Hammer_. _"Huh? Did I just use Aero? But how do I even know that spell?" Ven asked himself, unsure of how he cast the spell.

Roxas quickly charged towards several Jumbo Cannon. They turned their barrels horizontal and fired several shots towards Roxas. Roxas used Light Quick Run and slid around the shots as they flew passed. He then quickly used Dual Bout. Roxas slashed and appeared behind the Jumbo Cannons. The Jumbo Cannons were instantly sliced in half and destroyed.

Then, out of nowhere, two Mad Bumper Heartless appeared. They revved up and charged towards Terra. Terra quickly used Slide to dash out of the way of the speeding car-like Heartless. The Mad Bumpers spun around and charged Terra again. Terra used Slide to evade them again. He quickly turned and used Stun Edge. He jumped and spun around as he swung down Ends of the Earth, tearing through the Mad Bumper's and destroying them easily. As soon as he defeated them, Terra was surprised. "How did I use that technique?" Terra asked himself while looking at Ends if the Earth.

The party continued on their way through the Cavern of Remembrance, fighting against more and more powerful Heartless. As they continued through the underground tunnels, Terra, Aqua, and Ven felt something strange inside them. It seemed like the farther they went in, the more of something they got back. Like their lost abilities were coming back to them. Eventually, they reached reached Transport to Remembrance. Everyone looked around in amazement. The area appeared o be a large, white hallway, with columns holding the ceiling up. The Rising falls were on the outside to the right, adding to the beauty of the area. Sora noticed the Kingdom Key was resonating and glowing a brighter white than before. "We must be close." Sora said .

A barrier suddenly appeared, blocking the exit, and the path ahead. A group of five Dusk Nobodies then appeared before the party. "Really close." Kairi said. The Nobodies walked over to them ready to attack. The others dodged while Sora and Roxas used Reversal. The Nobodies were confused as Roxas, and Sora moved behind so quickly. Sora and Roxas slashed with their Keyblades, and destroyed one Dusk each. Riku, Ven, and Naminé flew down and destroyed the final three with a single slash.

Next, a group of five Samurai's appeared. "Roxas, I thought you controlled them!" Sora exclaimed.

"Something else here must have more control on them than me." Roxas countered.

"Just great!" Sora complained. The Samurai's had drawn their two swords and began attacking. One brought its sword down on Aqua. She easily blocked the attack and knocked it off guard. She knocked it into the air, and Sora finished it with an Aerial Spiral, and Aerial Finish combo. Kairi moved fast and knocked the swords out of ones hands before destroying it with an impressive ground combo.

Riku saw one charge towards him and swing its swords down. Riku quickly blocked the attack with Way to the Dawn. He pushed the Samurai's swords off his and spun around while swinging his Keyblade, destroying the Nobody. Terra swung Ends of the Earth with great force, catching a Samurai on the blades side. He swung hard, and sent the Samurai crashing into another Samurai. Ven dashed in and took one out with Wayward Wind. The other one attempted a surprise attack on Ventus, but he saw the attack coming, and destroyed the Samurai with an Aero spell.

Next, a group of five Assassin Nobodies appeared around the party. They all quickly sank and sailed through the ground. The party readied themselves for when the Assassin's would attack from the floor. The Assassins suddenly jumped out from the ground and charged at Mickey. Mickey jumped above them as they passed by him. He flew down and destroyed two with Kingdom Key D. Goofy used Save the King and smashed it down on one of the Assassins, completely destroying it. Donald then followed up with a powerful Thundaga, destroying two more Assassins. Naminé finished off the last one using Zantetsuken. Two more Samurai suddenly appeared from nowhere and dashed towards Sora.

Sora blocked their strikes and used Round Break. He did a spin slash and knocked them back. He quickly followed up with Magnet Splash and spun around while creating a Magnet spell like sphere around him. The energy drew one Samurai in, and then exploded, killing the Nobody. The second Samurai activated its Duel Stance ability. Sora complied, and both got into their Duel Stance poses. The area darkened and cherry blossom petals rained down around them. After three seconds passed, Sora hit the reaction first. He slashed so fast that he appeared behind the Samurai faster than the blink of an eye. The Samurai was destroyed, and the area returned to normal.

The barrier blocking the party's way disappeared, so they proceeded towards the end. Before they could each the next area, another barrier flared up and blocked their path. Kairi sighed in frustration. "Here we go again." she said. This time, three Sniper Nobodies appeared. They quickly fired a shot each at the party.

"Leave this to me!" Sora said. He used Warp Snipe and teleported to each shot. He smacked them with Kingdom Key and sent them back at the Snipers, causing some damage to them.

"I'll help you!" Kairi called. She and Sora both entered Wisdom Form and fired a Blizzaga at the Snipers. Two were destroyed while the third escaped the spells and charged its gun. It then fired its charged up bullet at Sora and Kairi. The bullet flew faster than usual, and the two didn't have enough time to react.

"I got you guys covered!" Riku said as he appeared in front of the bullet and destroyed it with way to the Dawn. Terra jumped over the three and swung down Ends of the Earth, destroying the Sniper easily. A few Berserkers, as well as two Gamblers appeared next. The Gamblers summoned their large dice and launched it at Aqua. Aqua countered with Barrier and deflected the dice back. She leaped towards the Gamblers and destroyed them with several slashes.

The Berserkers swung their large claymores at Riku and Terra. Riku blocked one, while Terra blocked the other. Ven jumped forward, and slashed one straight across the middle, but only damaged it. Naminé appeared behind the Berserker and slashed its back, delivering the killing blow. Riku moved out of the way, causing the Berserker to smash its claymore into the floor. Terra knocked the claymore out of its hands and knocked the Berserker into the air. He quickly grabbed the Berserker's Claymore and spun around rapidly before throwing the weapon at it. The claymore instantly tore through the Berserker and destroyed it.

The barrier disappeared and party proceeded closer to the door. Before they could reach it, six Dragoon Nobodies appeared and blocked them, as well as six Dancer Nobodies, and six Sorcerer Nobodies. "Alright, that's it! I'm ending this!" Roxas shouted as he charged the Nobodies. He used Dual Bout and charged them with Oblivion in front. He slashed and slid passed them. All the Nobodies were instantly wiped out from the attack. With no more Nobodies left to guard the door, the barrier disappeared, and the party proceeded through the door into the next room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party entered the room, they found themselves in the Garden of Assemblage. The room was in the shape of a perfect circle with the rising falls surrounding it. The roofless area showed them the castle was not far from them, but since they were in a lower level, it appeared to be higher up. In the center was a lower section with a small computer in the middle. "I wonder what that is." Sora said as he ran over to the computer and started fiddling with the controls.

"Careful Sora. You don't know what that thing will-" Riku tried to say before...

"Got it!" Sora interrupted Riku as he activated the computer. The entire room began rumbling as thirteen geysers shot up from the outer circle. Out of those sides of the rising falls emerged thirteen white and silver portal-like doors. Each door was blue with a mark of an Organization member on it. Before any one did anything, all thirteen doors shined with a bright light. Moments later, beams of light shot off the doors and connected with each other in the center. The energy quickly burst into the sky and began to grow wider. The party was soon enveloped by the intense light before they could escape.

* * *

AN: What's going to happen to our heroes now?

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_


	13. Heart Piercer & The Slayer of Hearts

**Chapter 13 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

When the light cleared, Roxas slowly opened his eyes,. and loudly gasped to find himself alone in what appeared to be another dimension. He was standing on a white pillar that was similar to the Awakening Station. The platform's top had an elegant design to it with a rose mark in the center. "What is this place?" Roxas asked himself as he observed the area. Roxas's eyes then fell on the center, to find an orb of darkness floating there.

"When did that get there?" Roxas asked himself.

The dark orb was surrounded by thorny dark tendrils that revolved around it, with cherry blossom petals falling around it, and a scythe mark in the center. Roxas remembered before the party was engulfed by the light, one of the doors that came out of the waterfall had the same mark on it. But when thinking back even more, Roxas noticed there was something about the scythe that seemed all too familiar to him. Before he could do anything, the answer hit him. "_No, it can't be!_" Roxas thought in shock as the orb burst with a flash of light. When the light cleared, standing before him was Marluxia, Organization XIII's number eleven.

"Marluxia!" Roxas yelled loudly as he summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Marluxia lightly chuckled as he summoned his scythe, Graceful Dahlia, to his hand. They both got into their battle stance as they prepared to fight.

"_He's the guy that made Naminé suffer so much in Castle Oblivion. He's gonna pay!" _Roxas thought as he got ready for Marluxia's attack.

* * *

_Play this music: T__he 13th Reflection - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_

* * *

The area darkened and Marluxia suddenly disappeared. Before Roxas could do anything, Marluxia appeared behind Roxas in a flash of rose petals, and whispered something into his ear. Marluxia disappeared, as a black Nobody symbol appeared behind Roxas. Roxas covered his eyes with his left arm as dark energy vines and rose petals shot up from his feet. When they cleared, Roxas quickly looked up to see the number ninety nine appear above his head.

"Just great!' Roxas complained as he remembered the technique from his time in the Organization. Whenever Marluxia uses the technique on someone, a number appears above their head, depending on how strong they are. The stronger they are, the higher the number. The number goes down by one for each time Marluxia hits them, and when the number hits zero, the person dies no matter what.

Marluxia reappeared in front of Roxas, looking triumphant as ever. "This won't stop me!" Roxas said as he charged Marluxia. Marluxia swung Graceful Dahlia down on Roxas. Roxas dashed to the side, easily avoiding the strike. He swung up hard with both his Keyblades, but Marluxia was faster and pulled his scythe back, blocking Roxas's attack with the pole part of the scythe. Marluxia then attacked with a furious combo of swings, knocking Roxas back and off balance. Roxas stumbled backwards as he hastily tried to block Marluxia's strikes. While he managed to block a majority of them, the other strike managed to hit him. Roxas looked above his head to see the number went to seventy five.

Roxas quickly retaliated with Criss-Cross. He swung his Keyblades and released an energy circle. Marluxia, brought his scythe up and easily blocked the attack. Roxas quickly dash forward with Light Quick Run, and attacked with a ferocious combo of swings. Marluxia was soon overwhelmed by Roxas's power, and the attacks started hitting him. As Roxas continued his onslaught of swings, he also added in his 13 Beams, causing even more damage to Marluxia. Roxas finished by jumping back and dashing forward with a powerful "X" swing. The attack sent Marluxia flying across the field, and crashing near the edge.

"Had enough yet?" Roxas said. Marluxia just lightly chuckled. The area turned dark and a flurry rose petals blew to the right as Marluxia levitated in flurry of petals and disappeared. He reappeared behind Roxas, attached to him by dark energy.

"What the-?" Roxas didn't finish as a circle of dark energy appeared beneath him. Roxas quickly jumped out of the way as the circle shot up a torrent of energy. As soon as Roxas landed, another circle appeared beneath him.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Roxas shouted as he continued to dodge the energy circles as they appeared beneath him. Roxas was too focused on the circles to see Marluxia raise up his scythe. As soon as Roxas noticed, Marluxia threw his scythe, which spun like a hurricane around Roxas. Roxas screamed loudly in pain as the scythe slashed at him from all around. Roxas looked up with one eye to see the number above him was getting dangerously low. Roxas mustered all the strength he could and weakly pulled his Keyblades back under his arms. "This won't be enough to stop me!" Roxas shouted as he charged his Keyblades with light and summoned his 13 Beams around him.

"Take this!" Roxas used Criss-Cross and swung his Keyblades, unleashing an energy circle while also sending out his 13 Beams. The combined attacks knocked away Marluxia and Graceful Dahlia. The area returned to normal as Marluxia stood in the center, kneeling in pain from the attack. Roxas looked above his head to see the number had stopped exactly at one.

"Just one short of a win. You just can't beat anyone at anything, can you flower boy?" Roxas insulted. "Oh well, it's time to end this."

Roxas charged towards Marluxia with his Keyblades at his sides. Marluxia saw this and quickly stood up. He brought Graceful Dahlia down on Roxas. Roxas front flipped over the strike and landed on the scythe. He smacked Marluxia a few times with Oathkeeper and then struck him into the air. Roxas quickly appeared under Marluxia and hit him with Oblivion, knocking him across the platform. "I'm not done with you yet!" Roxas called as he charged again. Marluxia quickly recovered and swung his scythe rapidly at Roxas. Roxas deflected and blocked the strikes with ease.

Roxas swung up with both of his Keyblades and knocked Graceful Dahlia out of Marluxia's hand. Roxas jumped in the air and caught the scythe. He smacked Marluxia with it a few times, knocking him into the air. Roxas quickly spun and threw Graceful Dahlia at Marluxia. Marluxia braced himself, but this did little as the scythe easily slashed through him. Marluxia fell towards the floor, only to see Roxas charging towards him again. "Now for the finishing blow!" Roxas shouted as he used Dual Bout. He slashed Oblivion and slid passed Marluxia faster than the blink of an eye. Marluxia's body remained in the air for a few second before becoming engulfed by dark tendrils.

"Go tend to your flower garden in Hell." Roxas hissed as Marluxia's body and faded away.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Roxas dismissed his Keyblades as he turned to face where Marluxia disappeared. "That was for what you did to Naminé." Roxas said. He turned to walk the other way, when suddenly a large surge of pain suddenly rushed through Roxas's head. He grabbed his head in pain as a high pitched noise rang through his head.

**(AN: Like in KHII in the simulated Twilight Town when Roxas was regaining his memories in the room with Naminé's drawings and right before he smashed the fake computer.)**

He clumsily stumbled around the platform as the pain got worse. "Wh-what's happening?" Roxas grunted as he fell on the floor. As he rolled left and right in agony, his mind began to open up. Roxas took a sudden, large inhale of breath, and his eyes shot open as he started to see things. Things from his past that he lost. In the flashback, he saw the Twilight Town station tower. At the top, he was sitting on the edge with Axel eating sea-salt ice cream, but something was different. On Roxas's left, sat a girl. She looked a lot like Kairi when she was fourteen years old, except this girls hair was black, and it was parted at the left. The girl turned and smiled at Roxas just as his flash back ended. Roxas released his head as the pain washed away and the noise in his head ceased.

He stood up and looked to the sky with an overjoyed smile. A single tear ran down Roxas's cheek as the girl's name entered his mind. Soon enough, a portal of light opened up before him. He brushed his tear away and walked walked into the portal.

"Xion." he said as the portal closed behind him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Donald and Goofy arrived. They were behind of the gate to the Twilight Town mansion. Then they saw there was a floating orb in front of them. It had the shield mark on it and it had snowflakes emitting from it. In a flash of light, Vexen appeared before them with his shield, Frozen Pride, materializing in his left hand. The shield then levitated and floated in front of him. Donald and Goofy quickly summoned Save the King and Save the Queen.

* * *

_Play this music: T__he 13th Reflection - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_ **  
**

* * *

Vexen summoned a circle beneath them that began gathering data. The two moved from the spot and charged. Vexen threw two spinning blades that resembled snowflakes at them. Goofy deflected it with Save the King and threw his shield at Vexen's shield.

The attack was deflected, but distracted Vexen from Donald, attacked with many Firaga's. The spells bounced off Frozen Pride, but weakened the shield a lot. The circle moved beneath the two again and had almost collected enough data from them. Vexen gathered ice energy in his hand and threw it at Goofy. The attack hit and froze Goofy solid. Donald freed him with his Fire magic.

Donald activated his Fantasia Limit. The powerful sparks knocked Frozen Pride off balance. Goofy quickly charged in and swung Save the King up, knocking Frozen Pride away. Donald then activated his Duck Flare Limit and sent an onslaught of magical rockets at Vexen, while Goofy used his tornado attack. The two were too focused on Vexen to see the circle had collected enough data and created shadow copies of Donald and Goofy. Goofy disposed of his copy easily using a solo version of Teamwork, while Donald defeated his copy with Fantasia. Donald and Goofy then used their finishing attacks together against Vexen.

* * *

Stop playing the battle theme here

* * *

Vexen was engulfed by light and dissipated.

A portal of light opened for Donald and Goofy, and the two walked through.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Riku and Mickey found themselves on a white circular platform. An orb with the axe sword mark, dark tendrils, and rocks emerging from it appeared. "That looks all too familiar." Riku said as he eyed the tomahawk mark. Then, in a flash of light, Lexaeus appeared before the two Keyblade Wielders. "And of course I was right."

Lexaeus summoned his axe sword, Skysplitter, to his hand, and got in his battle stance. "Oh well, I'm still gonna beat this guy again." Riku said as he summoned Way to the Dawn and got into his battle stance.

"No Riku, _we'll _beat him, together." Mickey insisted as he summoned Kingdom Key D, and got into his battle stance. Riku smiled and nodded, before he returned his attention to Lexaeus.

* * *

_Play this music: T__he 13th Reflection - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_ **  
**

* * *

A red aura then appeared around Lexaeus. Lexaeus then charged up energy and let out a loud yell as his power suddenly skyrocketed. Riku and Mickey held their weapons out in front of them as the dark wind created from the energy spike pushed them back somewhat. Lexaeus's aura was now bigger, and had some yellow and black to it. He charged forward and swung down Skysplitter with much strength.

Riku quickly dove out of the way, and Mickey jumped high into the air, as Skysplitter crashed into the spot where they were standing. The axe sword easily smashed into the floor due to the immense power. Mickey dove down and swung Kingdom Key D at Lexaeus. Lexaeus swung Skysplitter up easily deflecting Mickey's attack and knocking him away with much force. Lexaeus then turned to Riku and stabbed Skysplitter into the floor. Rock spikes continually shot up of the ground, and began advancing towards Riku. Riku smirked and ran towards the incoming spikes. He jumped high in the air over them, and landed close to Lexaeus.

Riku landed and charged towards Lexaeus. Lexaeus pulled Skysplitter from the ground and swung it horizontally at Riku. Riku ducked under the strike, but the swing did cut off a few strands of his hair. Riku swung up hard with Way to the Dawn, and knocked Lexaeus out of his powered up state. Mickey came up next to Riku, and the two attacked together. The two hit Lexaeus with a rapid series of swings, Riku's with more power, and Mickey's with more skill. The two the swung in unison, and knocked Lexaeus back. Lexaeus roared as he powered up again, the aura around him now bigger, and brighter.

"That just made him angrier!" Mickey said as he tried to balance on the shaking floor.

"He was already angry!" Riku replied.

Lexaeus quickly charged towards the two while dragging Skysplitter against the floor. Riku began firing Dark Aura's at him, while Mickey cast Pearl spells at him. Lexaeus swung his axe sword, and destroyed the attacks with ease. He reached the two and swung Skysplitter at Mickey. "Mickey, watch out!" Riku called as he pushed Mickey out of the way, and blocked the attack with Way to the Dawn. Lexaeus pushed Riku back towards the edge at an incredibly fast speed. Riku pushed forward with all his might, and manage to stop himself just half an inch away from the edge.

"I'll show you what real strength is!" Riku shouted as he began pushing Lexaeus back slowly. Eventually, Riku began pushing Lexaeus back at the same speed as he was. Riku was about to push him off the edge, but Lexaeus powered up to maximum, and flew extremely fast backwards, and far away from the platform. Riku then quickly back flipped to the center of the platform. He powered up as well. An orange aura appeared around him, with black and white wisps at the edges. Lexaeus rocketed forward towards Riku, and Riku charged at him.

The two slashed, and slid passed each other faster than Mickey could keep up. The two remained still for a few seconds, but soon enough, Lexaeus was engulfed by dark tendrils, and dissipated into nothing.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Riku stood up and dismissed his Keyblade as Mickey ran over. "Gosh Riku, that was incredible!" Mickey excitedly said.

"Yeah, it was. Though to tell the truth, I'm not quite sure how I did it. Spur of the moment, I guess." Riku said. Riku suddenly felt a large surge of pain in his head, along with a high pitched sound that rang painfully. Riku fell to his knees and screamed in pain as he clutched his head.

"Riku, what's wrong?" Mickey cried as he placed his hand on Riku's shoulder. As the pain increased, Riku was shown a flashback from his past. It was when he was just five years old. He was standing on the shore of the playground island, and Terra was there too. Terra was on his knee and held the hilt of his Keyblade towards the young Riku. Riku reached his hand out and grasped the hilt, and a brief flash of light emitted from it. Another flashback showed him and Sora talking with Aqua. With that, the flashbacks ended, as did the pain.

Riku released his head, and gave Mickey a reassuring nod he was okay. "What happened?" Mickey asked.

"I remembered." Riku answered.

"Remembered what?" Mickey.

"Terra and Aqua. I remember now. Sora and I met them when we were just kids." Riku said.

"You did?"

"Yeah. I guess I wouldn't remember them after how long it's been."

"You think they remember you and Sora too now?" Mickey asked.

A portal of light appeared before the two.

"Let's go and find out." Riku said

Mickey nodded, and the two walked through the portal.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Kairi and Naminé exited the light to find themselves on Destiny Islands and it was the fateful night when the world was destroyed. It was dark and stormy as debris flew around the island platform in a circle. They looked at the center of the platform to see an orb of darkness floating there with the book mark on it. "What's that?" Kairi wondered.

"Trouble." Naminé said with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, the orb began to shine with a bright light. When it cleared, Zexion stood in front of them, with his book in his hand.

* * *

_Play this music: T__he 13th Reflection - Kingdom Hearts II Final __Mix_

* * *

Kairi and Naminé quickly summoned their Keyblades. Zexion surrounded himself with a green aura as the Nobody mark appeared in front of him in a circle. Kairi and Naminé charged towards him, ready to attack. The circle suddenly released a small blast of energy. The two quickly dived out of the way before the blast could hit them. Zexion then increased the size of his book, which started floating around the girls. The girls looked to each other and nodded. Kairi went for the book, while Naminé went for Zexion.

Zexion summoned the green aura again and fired the energy blast at Naminé. Naminé countered with Reversal and spun around to Zexion's back. She swung Two Become One at him, but Zexion teleported away before she could hit him. Kairi cast a Firaga that instantly blasted the book into a bunch of flying pages. The pages all flew to Zexion, and reassembled into the book. Zexion then increased the books size again and launched it at the girls. The book opened up and sucked them into it before they could even react.

They opened their eyes to see they were in a void of swirling wind and darkness. Several copies of Zexion's book were floating around them, like a group of hungry animals circling their prey. The books all started glowing blue and flew towards the girls. The books were too fast and the girls were hit hard. The books quickly came back for another attack. Naminé cast a Reflega and blocked the books, bouncing them back. The spell then exploded in a spray of light, destroying all the books. Then, finally they found Zexion's book flying around with his shadowy figure gliding behind it, laughing.

Kairi jumped up and stabbed the book with Destiny's Embrace. In a flash of light, they were now in a dark dimension with three spotlights. Two were red while one was blue. Naminé and Kairi knew they had to stand on the blue one for something to happen. They carefully watched the blue spot where ever it rotated. The blur spot eventually stopped and the two quickly jumped into it. A barrier formed over them as meteors came falling down. There was a bright they were back in the windy dimension. Kairi quickly entered Valor Form and swung both of her Keyblades down on the book.

The book disappeared and brought them back to the destroyed island. Kairi and Naminé charged towards Zexion faster than he could react. The two spun and swung their Keyblades horizontally, appearing behind Zexion in the blink of an eye.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

Zexion's body quickly dissipated into darkness. Naminé turned to see they won. "We did it Kairi!" Naminé cheered. But when she turned to her, Kairi was on her knee, groaning in pain and clutching her head with her hand.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Naminé asked, but soon enough grabbed her head too, feeling the same as Kairi. As the pain intensified, Kairi could see things from her past that she forgot.

In the flashback, she saw herself when she was just four years old. She was in Radiant Garden, and peacefully picking flowers in a garden, when suddenly, a group of Shadow Heartless appeared and ran towards her. Kairi ran away as long as she could, but they eventually cornered her. Right when they were about to kill her, they were all destroyed. Kairi opened her eyes to see Aqua was the one who saved her. After thanking her, she gave Aqua the flowers she picked, and in return, Aqua placed a protective spell on Kairi's necklace, telling her if she was ever in danger, the light would take her to someone who would protect her. Kairi's grandma was calling her, so Kairi said her good-byes and ran to her grandma.

Naminé was shown a flashback of herself in the drawing room of the Twilight Town mansion. Standing across the room from her, was a girl wearing a black coat. When the girl removed her hood, it revealed her face looked a lot like Kairi when she was younger, but this girl's hair was black and parted at the left.

"_Nice to meet you, Xion._" Naminé had said to her.

The pain suddenly slipped away as Kairi and Naminé were returned to reality. Naminé helped Kairi up as a portal of light appeared in front of them.

"So, what was that?" Naminé asked, confused about what they just experienced.

"Just... remembering the past, I guess." was Kairi's answer. Naminé arched an eyebrow, more confused than before now. "Let's go."

With that, the two walked through the portal.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Aqua opened her eyes to find herself on top of a white circular platform. She looked around to see she was alone. When her eyes fell to the center, she spotted a floating orb of darkness with the kunai mark on it, and it was surrounded by electricity. In a flash of light, Larxene appeared before Aqua, giggling with her kunai in hand.

* * *

_Play this music: T__he 13th Reflection - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_ **  
**

* * *

Aqua immediately summoned Stormfall, ready for whatever Larxene was going to throw at her. Larxene quickly surrounded herself with an aura of lightning and disappeared in a flash. Aqua gasped in shock **(AN: It's an inside joke, LOL... That sounded way better in my head.)** as she wasn't able to keep up with Larxene's speed.

Larxene began teleporting all over the platform, making Aqua confused as she could barely see where Larxene was. Larxene appeared behind Aqua and attacked with her electric kunai. Fortunately, Aqua could sense her, and managed to block the attack. Aqua pushed her off and was about to counterattack, but was suddenly hit from behind by something. Aqua turned to see a copy of Larxene had attacked her. The Larxene and her copy began teleporting around the platform, attacking Aqua simultaneously, or independently. Aqua knew she was in trouble as she couldn't keep up with them, or see which one was the real one. Larxene made things worse by creating two more copies of herself.

She and her copies charged forward towards at once, leaving a trail of lightning behind them. Aqua jumped over them as they passed, and an idea formed in head. She waited for one of the Larxene copies to get in front of her. She grabbed it, and threw it into the air. Aqua quickly repeated the process with the others, and they all crashed into each other. The copies merged back into the real Larxene, revealing her location. Larxene fell down. Aqua charged forward as Larxene got ready for her attack. Larxene swung her kunai at her, but Aqua's agility allowed her to dodge Larxene's attacks, while also hitting her with regular swings and hitting her with Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells.

Larxene summoned a large lightning bolt that shot towards Aqua. Aqua gracefully cartwheeled out of the way as the lightning bolt crashed down where she stood. "Let's see you handle this." Aqua smirked as she extended her left arm and crossed her right one over it. A swirling sphere of energy appeared around Aqua as she charged up energy. She then swung her arms out, and activated her exclusive Command Style, Spell Weaver. Through the Style, Aqua and Stormfall gained a white, sparkling aura around them.

Aqua began levitating her Keyblade like Sora did in Master Form, and swung the floating Stormfall at Larxene. Larxene couldn't do anything as the spinning Keyblade hit her and repelled her attacks. Aqua grabbed her Keyblade with both hands and floated in the air. She fired a Magic Bullet at Larxene, knocking her back.

"Farewell!" Aqua said as she activated her Spellweaver finisher. She held her Keyblade up and spun rapidly. Streams of light spun around her as she hit Larxene with her magical spin.

* * *

_Stop playing the battle theme here._

* * *

When the attack was over, Larxene disappeared into darkness. Aqua dismissed Stormfall as the aura around her faded. Before Aqua could do anything, a sharp pain shot through her head. Aqua grabbed her head with both hands and fell to her knees as the pain intensified.

A flashback showed her a scene from her past. The vision showed her on Destiny Islands, kneeling in front of Sora and Riku when they were just little kids. She was going to give Sora the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, but realized Terra had given it to Riku already. Thinking one key was enough in a friendship, she just told Sora to look out for Riku if he ever lost his way. Another flashback showed her protecting a young Kairi in Radiant Garden from several Shadow Heartless. When she ran to Aqua, she placed her scared hand on Aqua's Rainfell, and there was a small flash of light. Aqua could sense a strong light in her, but refocused on the Heartless and defeated them. Afterwards Kairi thanked her and gave her the flowers she picked. In return, Aqua placed a protective spell on Kairi's necklace that would take her to someone that would protect her if she were in danger. Kairi then ran off to her grandma, who was calling for her.

When the pain in Aqua's head stopped, tears of joy slid down her cheeks. "To think, we've been with them this whole time, and didn't know it." Aqua smiled. She brushed her tears away as a portal of light opened up in front of her. She quickly ran through, eager to see if the others remembered as well.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Terra opened his eyes to find himself on a bridge in front of a large castle. The world wasn't familiar to him at all. Terra's eyes fell on the center of the bridge to see a orb of darkness with dark tendrils revolving around it. In the center ws the lance mark, which had small wisps of wind coming from it. "What's that?" Terra said as he slowly walked towards the orb. The orb burst in a flash of light, and standing before him whne the light faded, was Xaldin. A strong wind flew around Xaldin and he levitated in the air as he summoned and grabbed his set of lances, the Lindworm.

* * *

_Play this music: The 13th Dilemma - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Terra quickly jumped back. "You wanna fight? Fine then!" Terra said as he summoned Ends of the Earth and got into his fighting stance. Xaldin's lances flew in front of him in a circle pattern and spun rapidly. Energy charged at the center, and Xaldin fired an energy blast at Terra. Terra used Slide to avoid, and charged towards Xaldin. Xaldin quickly charged and fired another energy blast. Terra blocked with Ends of the Earth, though the force of the blast sent him sliding backwards. Terra stabbed Ends of the Earth in the ground to stop his backwards sliding. Terra raised his head to see Xaldin fly towards him. Terra quickly pulled Ends of the Earth from the ground just as Xaldin had stabbed all of his lances forward. Terra jumped in the air over the strike, and brought his Keyblade down hard.

Xaldin brought his lances up to block the incoming attack. The strike smashed against the lances, and knocked Xaldin off balance. Terra unleashed a furry of swings at Xaldin, forcing him on the defensive. The strikes were slow, but heavy, causing trouble for Xaldin. Each time the lances blocked a strike, they were slightly overpowered for a moment. Terra then used Stun edge . He spun in the air and brought down his electrically charged Keyblade. The strike knocked Xaldin off balance. Terra quickly followed up with Sliding Dash, and knocked Xaldin down. "Had enough yet?" Terra taunted.

Xaldin got up and suddenly began glowing green. He started spinning his lances around at great speed and skill. Terra was forced to run backwards barely able to block and dodge them. Then, Xaldin's lances combined and transformed into a large dragon figure. Xaldin jumped on top of it and flew over the edge of the bridge. It floated back up and the dragons mouth opened up, releasing a large gust of wind across the bridge.

Terra brought his arm back, but kept his Keyblade pointed out in front. A swirling sphere of light appeared around him as he charged up energy. Terra swung his Keyblade out, and activated his exclusive Command Style, Critical Impact. Terra and Ends of the Earth gained a bright aura around them. Terra charged towards the wind gust head on. He swung down Ends of the Earth, and effortlessly cut the wind gust in half. Xaldin's lances disassembled and he landed back on the bridge, his green glow fading away as he did. "Come on, let's finish this." Terra said before charged towards Xaldin.

Xaldin swung all his lances at Terra, but Terra easily knocked them away with a swift upward swing from he right. Terra then swung up from the left with his right arm only. The strike hit Xaldin directly, and knocked him back. Terra continuously hit Xaldin with slow, yet heavy and swift swing that caused massive damage with each hit. Soon enough, Xaldin was kneeling over in pain, the strikes too much for him to handle. Seeing his opportunity, Terra decided to end the fight with his Critical Impact finisher.

"Say good-bye!" Terra said as he jumped high into the air and charged up energy. He flew down at Xaldin and swung down Ends of the Earth. He slashed Xaldin down the middle, and made a large shockwave when his Keyblade hit the ground. After a few seconds, Xaldin's body disappeared into dark tendrils.

* * *

_Stop playing the theme here._

* * *

The aura around Terra and Ends of the Earth faded as he stood up and dismissed his Keyblade. "Man, it sure feels good to have my abilities back." Terra said as he stretched his arms. Terra suddenly felt a rush of immense pain go through his head. Terra fell to his knees as he grabbed his head. He screamed as the pain in his head was getting worse. Soon enough, he began seeing lost memories of his past.

He was on the playground island of Destiny Islands. He was kneeling on the beach in front of a five year old Riku, and he had just performed the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with the young boy. He then told Riku to keep it a secret before the boy ran back to Sora, who was impatiently waiting for him as his dad was coming to pick them up.

When the flashback ended, Terra stood up with a satisfied smile on his face. "Hmph, who would have thought we'd be reunited again like this?" Terra said as a portal of light opened up before him. Terra walked through, still with a satisfied smile.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Ven exited the light to find himself in a large room in a strange white castle he'd never seen before. His eyes spotted a floating orb of darkness with the card mark on it in the center of the room. In a flash of light, Luxord appeared before Ven.

* * *

_Play this music: The 13th Struggle - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Ven jumped back and immediately summoned Wayward Wind as Luxord summoned his cards. Luxord gathered his cards together and threw them all at Ven. Ven quickly ducked under the flying cards and charged towards Luxord. Ven jumped towards him and swung down Wayward Wind. Unfortunately, Luxord suddenly then disappeared behind one of his cards. Ven turned to see a bunch of cards scrambling around on the floor. "_Where'd he go?_" Ven wondered as he watched the cards scramble everywhere. The cards then stood up and began levitating around the area.

"Guess I'll have to find him." Ven said as he ran to the cards. He picked one and used the Flip Reaction Command. The card turned to reveal the picture of a fireball. Ven gasped as a fireball shot out from the card. The attack was even faster than Ven, and struck him in the chest, knocking him to the floor. Ven groaned in pain as he stood up, ready to try again. He ran to another card and used Flip on it. The card revealed another fireball and knocked Ven down again. He growled loudly in frustration as he was already getting ticked off. That's when Ven suddenly remembered what Terra had said to him the day he gave him his Wooden Keyblade.

"_You're trying too hard to move your body. You need to learn to let your body move you._

Ven calmed himself down, and decided to follow those words exactly. Almost instantly, Ven ran towards another card and used Flip. He was right, and the card brought Luxord back out. Ven quickly used the moment to his advantage and hit Luxord with a skillful ground combo. Luxord was knocked back, but recovered and threw several cards at Ven. Ven quickly cast and Aero spell and destroyed all the cards. Luxord then quickly summoned a card in front of him. Ven used Strike Raid and threw Wayward Wind at the card. The Keyblade cut through effortlessly, but the card split in half to reveal Luxord was no longer behind it.

Ven gasped as he caught the retuning Wayward Wind. A large number of cards the appeared on the floor and scrambled around everywhere. "Alright then, let's do this!" Ven said as he held his Keyblade arm out and a swirling sphere of energy appeared around him. When he gathered enough energy, and swung his arm back and stomped his foot on the floor, activating his exclusive Command Style, Fever Pitch. Ven and Wayward Wind gained a light blue aura through the activation. Ven charged at the cards and destroyed them with speedy swings at a quick rate. When there was only one card left, Ven used Flip to reveal Luxord.

Luxord quickly summoned giant versions of his cards around the two. Ven knew what he had to do, and easily hit the right commands at the right time thank to his incredible speed and reaction time. All the cards shrunk and flew into Ven's hand. Ven threw all the cards at once, hitting Luxord with all of them. "See-ya!" Ven said as he activated his Fever Pitch finisher. He hit Luxord with a fast combo of swings before swinging Wayward Wind against the floor, hitting Luxord with five beams of light.

* * *

_Stop playing the theme here._

* * *

Luxord faded away as the aura around Ven and Wayward Wind faded as well. Ven suddenly felt a surge of pain rush through his head. Ven fell to his knees and grabbed his head with his hands as the pain got worse. Through the pain, Ven was shown a flashback from his past.

He was alone in a dark place, and standing on a white circle. He heard a voice calling out to him to help him. When he accepted it, a light fixed the circle, revealing Ven's Dive to the Heart, only he wasn't holding his Keyblade.

Ven returned to reality as the portal of light appeared before him. "What was that?" Ven asked as he walked through the portal.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sora left the light to find himself in a large white room in the World That Never Was. He looked out the large window of the room to see Kingdom Hearts was floating in the night sky. Sora then looked to the center of the room to see a floating orb of darkness with the claymore mark on it. In a flash of light, Saix appeared in front of Sora, his claymore in hand. "Great, I have to fight you again?" Sora complained as he summoned Ultima Weapon.

* * *

_Play this music: The 13th Dilemma - Kingdom Hearts II_

* * *

Saix suddenly teleported to the window and summoned the power of Kingdom Hearts, immediately berserk. He charged towards Sora and began wildly swinging his claymore at him with great strength.

Sora could do nothing but dodge the powerful attacks as they came at him. Sora quickly jumped back from another strike and got a good distance away from Saix. Saix roared as he jumped high in the air and came flying down towards Sora. Sora jumped out of the way and dismissed Ultima Weapon as he grabbed a claymore Saix dropped after his previous attack.

He used the Berserk ability and easily knocked Saix out of his berserk state. Saix went over to the window to absorb the moons power again, but Sora intercepted him, and hit him with a strong ground combo, finishing with Explosion. The finisher knocked Saix all the way to the other side of the room. Saix, however, had absorbed enough energy and went berserk again.

He swiped his claymore across the floor, sending shockwaves at Sora. Sora used Quick Run to avoid the shock waves as they came at him. Saix then flew higher and threw his claymore at Sora. Sora summoned Ultima Weapon, and managed to block it. He grabbed the claymore with his free hand and threw it back at Saix.

The weapon struck him hard, and he was knocked out of his berserk state again. Sora quickly entered Final Form and summoned Ultima Edge as well. Sora flew towards Saix and hit him with and endless barrage of light empowered swings, as well as light enhanced magic. Finally, Sora swung down with both Keyblades, and slashed through Saix. As soon as Sora exited Final Form, Saix's body disappeared.

* * *

_Stop playing the theme here._

* * *

"Just what is this place?" Sora asked himself, not thinking he'd ever see Saix's face again. Suddenly, Sora's head raged with pain as a high pitched sound rang through it as well. Sora fell to his side as he grabbed his head in pain with both hands. The flashbacks he was shown quickly flashed before his eyes within seconds, his head feeling like it could overflow and burst any minute.

The flashbacks showed Sora Ven in his Dive to the Heart, as well as Terra and Aqua on Destiny Islands with him and Riku ten years ago. Sora let out a loud scream as the pain reached its peak, but soon washed away. Sora's vision became blurry as he slowly pushed himself up with his arms and legs. Sora's blurry vision slowly went away, but he managed to push himself to his feet.

"Have... have I known them this whole time, but not known it?" Sora asked himself. Soon enough, a Corridor of Darkness opened up in front of Sora, instead of a portal of light. Sora felt unsure at first, but stepped through, determined to know if the flashbacks he was shown were true.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Great Maw**_

The party exited the portals of light to find themselves in the Great Maw. As soon as they saw each other, Aqua and Kairi hugged each other like a mother that just found her lost child. Aqua soon released Kairi. "I remember now, it was you, Aqua. I'm still alive because of you." Kairi said.

"I'm just so glad you are okay," Aqua complimented, "I still can't believe you got the Keyblade from me. You're very skilled." Aqua smiled. Kairi just giggled in embarrassment.

Terra began ruffling Riku's hair. "I never would've thought we would meet again like this." Terra said.

"Well, you were the one who said I would find you." Riku said as Terra stopped ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, I did." Terra added in. Meanwhile, Roxas and Naminé were talking about their flashbacks.

"Roxas, you saw her too, didn't you?" Naminé asked. Roxas nodded.

"Remembering her now after forgetting about her all this time is just so... overwhelming," Roxas smiled, "Xion."

"I wish we could be with her." Naminé lowered her head, saddened.

"We can," Roxas assured. Naminé raised her head, surprised at Roxas's response. "She's inside of Sora, just like I was. As long as we're with Sora, we're with Xion too."

"Mm." Naminé nodded with a smile.

"Hold on a sec. Where's Sora?" Goofy asked. Everyone looked around and realized Sora wasn't with them.

"Do ya think he's still in that weird dimension?" Mickey asked Riku.

"I doubt it," Riku began, "We all came out at the same time. He should've too."

"Then, where could he be?" Kairi asked worryingly, her hand pressed against her heart.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Dark Depths**_

Sora exited the Corridor of Darkness he walked through to find himself in the Dark Depths.

**(AN: To refresh your memory if you don't remember, it's the spot in KHII where you fight Sephiroth.)**

"What?-!" Sora gasped, shocked that he ended up here. He looked around the area to see he was alone.

"_Where is everybody?_" Sora wondered. Sora suddenly felt a dark presence ahead of him. He looked to the center of the area to see something he was nothing below overwhelmed to see. Stabbed into the center of the area, was the, Keyblade of People's Hearts, the very same Keyblade that Sora stabbed himself with to free Kairi's heart, and also turned him into a Heartless. The Keyblade's appearance was unchanged, but now it had a Keychain that consisted of black links, and the token was a large red heart.

Seeing the Keyblade again surprised Sora greatly. "B-But how? I destroyed it," Sora said in shock before summoning the Kingdom Key. "I guess I'll just destroy it again."

Sora walked over to the Keyblade and raised the Kingdom Key above it, ready to destroy it. But right when he was about to, Sora's arms came to a stop as he felt something was different about the Keyblade. A different power than before. Sora dismissed the Kingdom Key and slowly reached his hand towards the handle. Sora gulped loudly as he slowly wrapped his fingers around the hilt. "_i have a bad feeling about this._" Sora thought as he was ready to grab the Keyblade. He fully grasped the hilt, but nothing had happened. Sora easily pulled the Keyblade from the ground, and admired its blade.

_"Heart Piercer." _a voice rang in his head.

"Huh?" Sora gasped as the name came into his head out of nowhere. Suddenly, dark energy shot out from the hilt and engulfed Sora's entire arm.

"What?-!" Sora gasped as he tried to let the Keyblade go, but the dark energy prevented him from doing so. The dark energy began to spread from his arm, and covering his body. Sora grunted as he tried to hold the darkness off, but to no avail. Sora screamed loudly to the sky as his whole body was engulfed by the dark energy. Out of nowhere, the translucent pieces that appeared when Sora entered a Drive Form appeared and connected around the darkness. They quickly burst apart, and from the center, a jet of darkness shot up into the sky.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Great Maw**_

The rest of he party gasped in shock as they saw the jet of darkness hit the sky. "WHAT IS THAT?-!" Roxas shouted.

"Darkness," Kairi trembled, "... a terrible darkness."

"Come on, I bet Sora's over there!" Ven shouted as he ran off to the Dark Depths.

"Ven, hold on!" Aqua protested as she and the others ran after Ven.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_The Dark Depths_**

When the party arrived, they saw a cloud of dark smoke in the center of the area. Large scorch marks extended out from the smoke as it began to clear. From the darkness emerged, Sora, but his appearance horrified everyone, especially Kairi.

Sora's Drive clothes were in Anti Form, but Sora's skin and hair remained normal. As for Sora's eyes, the only changes were that his irises had changed from their normal blue to a bright yellow. He was constantly emitting darkness from his arms, and back, in the form of misty black and violet wisps, and his nails were covered with dark energy, making dark claws. There was dark electricity crackling all around his body, and the Keyblade of People's Hearts, now named Heart Piercer, was held in Sora's right hand. Behind Sora, floated Xehanort's Guardian, the creature that belonged to Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. A satisfied grin crept its way onto Sora's face as he closed his eyes and slightly lowered his head.

"I am...," Sora whispered, his voice now having a slight demonic echo, "The Slayer of Hearts."

"Sora, are you okay?" Kairi worryingly asked as she slowly walked towards him.

Sora gasped as he quickly regained control of himself. Sora then deactivated the Slayer of Hearts Form. Xehanort's Guardian and the Heart Piercer disappeared soon after as well.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Sora turned to Kairi, smiling.

"What happened to you?" Aqua worryingly asked.

"I... I don't know," Sora began, unsure himself, "But I am alright."

"I think we should go." Donald suggested.

"Yeah." Sora agreed.

After retrieving the Light of the World, and properly reuniting with each other after regaining their lost memories, the party walked back to a save point and teleported back to the Gummi Ship

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**Keyblade Graveyard**_

A dark sensation surged through Master Xehanort; eyes lit with amazement and his smile twisted with maniacal glee. "He's done it," Master Xehanort said to Vanitas, "Sora has taken his first step towards the road to darkness."

"Why him?" Vanitas questioned, "Wouldn't Riku have been a better choice?"

"Despite the lads experience with darkness, Sora is far stronger than him, and despite how strong Sora's light is, his newfound powers will slowly transform that light into darkness. I made certain of that." Master Xehanort answered.

"Hmph, whatever," Vanitas replied, "It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. Terra's still your main objective anyway."

Master Xehanort then turned to his dark apprentice. "So, what do you make of Ventus's strength, as well as those other four?" Master Xehanort asked.

"Tch, they are worthless. They've only gotten a little bit stronger, that's all." Vanitas answered.

"No matter," Master Xehanort began as he turned away from Vanitas, "For what I have in store, they all should grow strong enough in due time. In the mean time, continue observing and pushing them to grow stronger. After all, their negative emotions shall spawn more of those creatures you can create."

"What about Aqua?" Vanitas asked, "You saw that light as well. She's clearly the eighth."

"Most likely," Master Xehanort agreed, "I've never in my life felt such a strong light. She is definetely the one."

"Should I capture her then?"

"Leave her be for now. Terra and Ventus are our primary concern at the moment."

"Whatever you say, Master." Vanitas said before he turned and walked through a Corridor of Darkness.

"Very soon... the time will come." Master Xehanort smirked.

* * *

AN: GOD, I'm finally done with this one! So now Sora's got a new Keyblade, and a new Drive Form. This should boost the party's chances of winning... hopefully.

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	14. Keyblades & Extreme Gear?

**Chapter 14 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**The Lanes Bewteen**_

The party headed towards another world that had a large city on one part of it, as well as many different looking places elsewhere on it. They decided to head for the city area first.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Metal City_**

When the party landed in the city, they were shocked at finding out they had air boards on their backs that were modeled after their weapons. (AN: So in Ven's case, it's his regular Keyblade Glider, and for Terra and Aqua, it's a hover board version of their Keyblade Gliders.)

"Where'd these come from?" Riku said in shock as he examined his board.

"Maybe it's a law of this world, or somethin' like that." Goofy said.

"This place is so cool." Sora awed as he admired the the futuristic metal city, with flying cars, and just about everything people would expect the future to be like.

"Scuse me!" a voice called. The party all turned around to see three anthropomorphic animals approaching.

"You guys are new around here, right?" said the blue hedgehog. The shorter one was a yellow-orange two-tailed fox, and the other one was red echidna.

"Yeah." Sora answered.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. That's Knuckles, and he's Tails." Sonic said.

"I'm Sora, and this is Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Mickey." Sora introduced. Everyone said hi.

"We're looking for a Chaos Emerald that should be somewhere. You guys haven't seen one have you?" Tails asked.

"A Chaos Emerald?" the whole party asked, confused.

"The Chaos Emeralds are these mystical gems with unlimited power. We need to find them before the bad guys get their hands on them." Tails said.

"Sure, we'll help you guys out." Naminé said.

Tails looked at his radar looking for the Chaos Emerald. "I think there's a signal coming from around here." Tails said. Then he saw something started jamming the signal. "That's really weird it looks like something's blocking the radar signal."

Then suddenly, everyone heard the sound of glass breaking. They all turned to see three dark silhouettes coming out of the shattered glass. "There! What's that!" Knuckles yelled.

Then the radar that Tails had locked onto something. "Sonic, the Emerald's over there!" Tails pointed in the direction the three strangers were flying. The party saw the strangers had air boards like the party, and they were heading in the direction Tail's was pointing to.

"All right! Now we're talking!" Sonic excitingly said as he jumped off the edge of the area. He did a series of quick front flips into a free fall, with the others right behind him. The three strangers turned around as police cars were headed their way. Sonic landed in front of them, but the leader flew passed him. Knuckles quickly landed in front of the bigger one, and landed several hard punches and an uppercut to him sending him flying off his board. The board landed on the ground, and Tails noticed a strange mark on it.

Sora and the others landed to see the big guy had grabbed onto the other's board. "Shoot!" Knuckles said as the strangers went into a tunnel with the police cars in hot pursuit. "You up for it?" Ven asked Sonic.

"You bet." Sonic answered. Sonic and Ven ran towards the tunnel at high speed. Sonic grabbed the big stranger's board and threw it into the air as Ven did the same with his board. The two jumped and landed on their boards, which immediately accelerated after the strangers. The two were easily able to fly passed the other two and after the leader. The leader looked back to see Sonic and Ven maneuvering through cars with ease. They managed to catch up to him, but were having a hard time getting in front to stop him.

Sonic and Ven nodded to each other, and quickly boosted ahead. They maneuvered quickly and managed to flying passed the leader.

"Huh… Not bad." the leader complimented.

Sonic, and Ven turned their heads to see that the leader was gone. They then sensed an energy above.

"What the-!" Sonic exclaimed as he Ven looked in the air to see the stranger in the air. He boosted down with a stream of visible wind behind him. He hit the Sonic and Ven, and sent flying in the air. The two crashed on the ground hard.

"Hmph! So, you're supposed to be the fastest thing alive?" the leader said as he made his escape. The other two came and the big guy grabbed his board as they flew away. Sonic, and Ven got up as the others arrived.

"Ven, are you alright?" Aqua asked, very worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ven assured.

"Looks like we've got new competition." Sonic smirked.

"Who were those guys?" Roxas asked.

"Trouble, that's what." Mickey said. Tails noticed the signal on his radar disappeared.

"Looks like they got the Emerald before us." Tails said.

"Then we gotta find the rest before those guys do." Donald said.

"Yeah." Sonic agreed.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_The next day_**

The party was exploring the city, while listening to Sonic had talk about Eggman, his friends, and his adventures. Then on the giant tv screen something appeared. "Muhahahaha!" laughed the person.

"Eggman!" Sonic said in shock.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome everyone! I hope you're all ready for a show. We've got an exciting event just for you. Since you all seem so bored. I've put together a little extra something to spice things up! I call it the "EX World Grand Prix" A tournament to see who's the best of the best with Extreme Gear! Not just a race… But a special race to see who's the fastest. And… these races are no holds-barred! All contestants pay a simple entrée fee of one Chaos Emerald, and the winner takes it all! So, let's see who among you dares to meet this challenge!" said Eggman as the image disappeared.

"Eggman again! Just what is he up to this time?" said Sonic. Then Eggmans image reappeared on the screen. "And there's more! Before I forget, I'll present the current contestants. These players, they're hot, the best racers I could find!" said Eggman as the screen showed three anthropomorphic birds on Extreme Gear.

The first was a large grey albatross, the second was a purple swallow, and the third was a green hawk. "Hey that's! said Sonic recognizing the green hawk as the leader of the three they saw last night. The Ex World Grand Prix huh? Let's do it!" said Sonic. Everyone agree and they were able to participate because they already had one chaos Emerald on them.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Metal City_**

The first race took place right there in the city. For this race, only the top three racers would advance to the next round. The racers from Sora and Sonic's party in here were Sonic, Sora, Roxas. Two green robots and one green robot that were built by Eggman were also in the race, as well as a few new Heartless with boards made of darkness. "Figured as much." Sora said seeing the Heartless.

"Who're those guys?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing but trouble." Roxas answered.

There were four seconds left until the race began. All the racers ran to the gate with their boards in hand. When the counter reached zero, the electrical line disappeared, and all the racers threw their boards in the air, and landed on them to begin the race. The racers flew down the slope towards the first ramp. Sonic, Sora, and Roxas boosted forward to get ahead of the others. The slipstream blew the robots away. They went off the ramp. Sora did two front flips and a Jessy, Roxas did two three-sixties and a Melon, and Sonic did two front flips, a three sixty, and a Sky. They landed on the top ledge of the next area. The other racers were flying beneath them.

When they entered the next spot, they saw a yellow ramp that led towards two rings. A heartless boosted up from behind, and after sprouting wings, flew through the rings giving it the lead. "We gotta speed up, fast" Sonic yelled. Sonic rolled into a ball and dashed forward at incredible speed. He smacked into the Heartless, and sent it flying into the air as Sonic went of the edge to the lower area. Sora and Roxas dashed forward off the edge after Sonic. They maneuvered their way through the cars ahead. They went through the small freeway before making the next turn.

Up ahead was another ramp. They boosted forward and went off the ramp high into the air all three doing a series of back flips. They landed and grabbed the glider ahead which dragged them forward back to the start. With their speed they easily made it through the second lap. When they started the third lap, they noticed Wyvern Heartless appearing and attacking them. "I got this." Sonic said. Sonic quickly spun in a circle and released a tornado. The Wyvern's were sent flying away, and into oncoming cars. Two more Wyverns came forward. Sora and Roxas brought out one of their Keyblades, and smacked them away. They saw the final ramp, and the glider to the finish line up ahead. Sonic grabbed Sora and Roxas by their wrists as he boosted forward as fast as he could.

After clearing the ramp, they reached the glider, and passed the finish line. The board showed they were the top three to pass. "Alright we advance!" Sora shouted in delight as he threw his fist in the air.

"That was some hot stuff out there." Sonic complimented.

"Well we're not push overs or anything." Roxas said.

They rejoined the group and told them of their success. Kairi and Naminé gave them a kiss on the cheek of course, and the party proceeded to where the next race would be held.

But little did they know, Eggman was watching them from afar. "Those fools, they don't realize that once the Grand Prix is over, I'll just swipe the Chaos Emeralds, and use their power along with the Light of the World, to consume this world in darkness. With the Heartless at my command, there will be nobody that can stop me, and the Eggman Empire will be a reality! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eggman laughed as a few Extreme Gear Heartless appeared behind them.

"Now go and make things a little interesting for Sonic and his friends." Eggman ordered. Understanding their orders, the Heartless flew off to the next race area.

* * *

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	15. Splash Canyon

**Chapter 15 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**Splash Canyon**_

The party was walking on a bridge in Splash Canyon, where the next race would take place. It was a very tropical place, similar to Destiny Islands, with trees and waterfalls. "Yeah, but what is Eggman really after?" Knuckles asked.

"Aw, it can't be anything too important." said Sonic.

"He's probably after those Chaos Emeralds, don't you think?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah" Ven agreed. "

Hey Sonic!" yelled a pink hedgehog as she ran the group.

"Huh? Amy?" said Sonic.

"Who's she?" Roxas whispered to Tails.

"Sonic's biggest admirer." Tails answered.

"Really." Namine said with a mischievous look on her face.

"Don't tell me you've signed up too?" Sonic said.

"Of course, it really looks exciting and fun. Why wouldn't I join? And besides… this way I'll be able to keep my eyes on you." Amy winked at him. Sonic's face just turned into a disgusted one.

"Tails?" Sonic asked, but he seemed to have something else on his mind.

"Hmm… That mark." Tails said, remembering the boards of the birds they chased in Future City.

"Mark?" Sonic said.

"Uh-huh. I think it was on the boards of those guys we ran into in Future City… Babylon" Tails said.

"Babylon?" everyone questioned.

"Yes, the mark of the Babylon Rogues. A long time ago, there was a floating island known as Babylon Garden. Supposedly robbers lived there. According to rumors, this legendary band, the Babylon Rogues, were great thieves. Legend also says that the Babylon Rogues incurred the wrath of the Gods because of their crimes, and that the island was cast far into the depths of the Earth. After that, supposedly the Babylonians were then scattered for all time never to be found, but they say that the Babylon Rogues treasure still remains on that island, waiting to be discovered. There are also rumors that the Babylon Rogues were Extreme Gear specialists." Tails said, finishing his story.

"Still how can a plank like that just float?" Knuckles asked.

"That's easy to explain. According to the Kutta-Joukowski Lift Theorem, the control surface flow is balanced by the inverse kinetics of the…"

"Stooop!" Knuckles shouted. "I get it okay? It just floats and that's good enough for me!"

Then everyone heard a female voice laughing. Everyone turned their heads to see the Swallow from the group of three birds walk in between them.

"Huh?" Knuckles said in confusion.

"Sorry, but it's just too funny" Wave said.

"_Let's see."_ Wave's eyes found their eyes to Sonic's board, that Tails was holding.

"Huh? That Gear's unusual" Wave said.

"Customized it myself" Tails said. Wave took it from Tails hands and examined it.

"_This isn't half bad for an amateur_. _Still, you can never be too careful._" Wave thought as she planted a small explosive on the bottom of the board without anyone noticing.

Wave then burst out with laughter, leaving everyone confused. "Well, I never expected anyone would enter the race with such a piece of junk!" Wave insulted. Everyone eyes and mouths went wide with shock at Waves comment.

"Thanks though, it was good for a laugh" Wave handed the board back to Tails. "See ya, shorty." Wave said as she walked away.

"What's her problem?" Naminé glared at wave as she left.

"Ohhhhh that girl, who does she think she is?-!" Amy yelled, very angry.

"Yeah, how can she just walk in and diss Tails?" Sonic said.

"I know, and tinkering's all he's really good at too!" Knuckles added in. Tails gritted his teeth as his expression turned angry. Suddenly, the announcer's voice came on the speakers.

"_The next race is about to begin. Please come to the gate participants._" the announcer said. The party quickly ran to the race area.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

In this race, it was going to be Aqua, Tails, Kairi, and Naminé. The other racers were Eggman robots, or Extreme Gear Heartless. This time the top five racers would advance to the next stage of the race. The gate opened, and the racers dashed out of the gate. They all drifted the left turn and dashed forward. The wood track ended, and up ahead was a large lake. Naminé and Aqua quickly dashed across the lake sending water flying. Kairi and Tails went off the Fly Type ramp and through the dash rings to get across quickly.

The Heartless all used the Speed Type rail to grind over the lake, leaving the Eggman robots in the dust, or water would be a better term to use. Up now was a long ramp. The girls and Tails all flew high off it. Kairi, Naminé, and Tails did a series of front and back flips, while Aqua did a graceful series of three sixty's. They landed and quickly dashed down the track, with the robots and Heartless not far behind. They looked ahead to see that the track led into a river with a closed space.

They flew in with intense speed. There were sharp rocks in the river. They managed to maneuver passed them, but just barely. They reached the end, which was heading towards a large waterfall. "Here we go!" Aqua shouted.

They were all pulled up quickly by the waterfall, and forced a series of front flips. While in the air, they saw flying Eggman robots and flying Heartless heading towards them. Aqua summoned Stormfall and fired a Blizzard spell at them. The robots dodged the spell, which hit a Heartless, completely destroying it. The four continued ahead to see three "Type" paths ahead. Aqua and Tails took the Fly path, and went through the aerial dash rings, while Naminé and Kairi took the Speed path, and were grinding along the rail, sending sparks flying.

They reached the end of their paths, and went across a bridge with Heartless dashing in from behind. The Heartless shoved them as they boosted forward and the girls and Tails were blown back by the wind. "Bastards." Kairi growled as she boosted forward after the Heartless.

The Heartless all turned and began firing dark balls at her. Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace and sliced through the blasts as she dashed past the Heartless. Naminé rocketed forward, closing in on the Heartless. She quickly entered Valor Form, and Winners Proof appeared in her left hand. Naminé swung hard with both Keyblades and easily destroyed the two Heartless. Aqua and Tails caught up and they saw the Eggman robots were closing in from behind. They were surrounded by a dark aura as they transformed, and were now bigger, armed with weapons, and had armor. Their boards were also modified, and looked heavily tuned for their use. Two robots dashed towards the group as blades appeared from their upper wrists.

Kairi entered Valor Form and Mysterious Abyss appeared in her left hand. She then decelerated to fight the approaching robots. The robots swung their blades at her, but Kairi blocked the attacks easily. She knocked them both off guard, and slashed down with both Keyblades, slicing off their arms. Blades then appeared from their left wrists, and they swung their left arms forward.

Kairi ducked under the strikes, and slashed her Keyblades up, slicing off their other arms. She then swung wide with both Keyblades, and the robots were sliced in half. The other two robots then fired missiles at Kairi. Tails flew at them, and the missiles locked onto him. Tails flew towards the robots, before doing a quick one-eighty and flying back the right way. The missilesflew back towards the robots and destroyed them.

The group continued forward into the water wheel, which led into a dark cave with flowing water from a water fall at the end of the cave. They dashed and went off the ramp, which sent them through the water. They landed and dashed through the small lake they were in sending water flying. They passed the starting line, as did some Heartless, beginning the second lap. The girls and Tails decided to split up. Aqua went with Naminé, and Tails went with Kairi. The Heartless split up to attack them. Their hands turned into blades of darkness and they approached the groups.

One swung its sword down on Tails, but he swung an electric cord at it, shocking it. It lost control and crashed into the water. The electricity was then conducted, shocking the entire lake, and killing the Heartless. The remaining Heartless and the groups flew over the water and went off the ramp, and went down the track the lead to the closed river. They went through the river and dodged the sharp rocks. The Heartless did to, but one got destroyed by an incoming rock. They all went up the waterfall, and towards the "Type" area. They went through the area with Speed and Fly. When they drifted the corner, surprisingly, the Heartless drifted closer to the center, and dashed forward passed the group.

"Damn it!" Aqua said as they went faster. They all went off the ramp that went out of the waterfall and onto the lake. After crossing the starting line, they began the final lap. But something was strange on the lap. The Heartless seemed to show an increase of skill, as if they were holding back before. The four couldn't catch up to the Heartless, until the ramp that went out of the waterfall and into the lake. Kairi and Naminé nodded to Aqua, and the three lined up in a straight line. They used their magic powers which surrounded them with glowing auras. Kairi's was red, Namine's was white, and Aqua's was blue

They dashed forward with their auras, bursting into a bright stream of mixed energy. They flew forward at a speed equal to Roxas or maybe even faster. They smashed into the Heartless, and most were destroyed, but a few barely managed to dodge. The girls and Tails flew off the ramp that was behind the waterfall higher than before. A rainbow formed from the waterfall, and the girls landed on it. It curved down and headed straight for the lake. The stream of red, white, and blue energy was beautiful on the rainbow, as they flew down and the rainbow seemed to shine even brighter. All but one Heartless were caught in the light, and were destroyed.

The girls, Tails,and one remaining Heartless crossed the finish line. "Oh yeah, we rule!" Kairi said as she high fived Naminé, Aqua, and Tails. They left and caught up with Sora and the others.

"So how was that?" said Kairi.

"You guys did really great." Terra said.

"Oh please, it was nothing." Namine confidently said.

Roxas wrapped his arms around Namine's waist and brought her close to him. "That was a beautiful display of skill." Roxas said which made Namine blush. Sora smacked Roxas hard on the back. "Okay Romeo, let's get back on topic." Sora said.

"Seems like those guys are gonna do anything to win." Goofy said.

"Even resorting to modifying themselves like the way they did." Donald added in

"Well, we'd better get to the next race. We might get some real answers there." Riku said. The group quickly left to the next racing area.

* * *

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	16. Factories & Forests

**Chapter 16 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

The third race of the Grand Prix was held at Splash Canyon during sunset in which it was called "Red Canyon", and the track had been altered. Amy, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald were in the race, but unfortunately, so was Wave. Even more unfortunate was that she beat all four of them, and they were out of the Grand Prix. Wave had some surprises in store for them that they had no idea was coming.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Egg Factory_**

The next race of the World Grand Prix was taking place at Eggmans "Egg Factory". But that's just the name of the factory. It isn't a factory for actual eggs. Flying robots work in the the factory, producing more robots and machines for Eggman. There were waterfalls of lava ,and high tech machinery everywhere. In this race the top four racers would advance to the next round. The racers from Sora and Sonic's group that are going to be in this race are Knuckles, Riku, Terra, and Ven.

The four were were walking through the factory to the starting line. As they walked, a green Eggman racing robot also walked by, and then a red one. When the four turned the corner, Knuckles bumped into another racer, and both racers boards fell onto the ground. The red robot stared in confusion.

"Aaaah!" gasped both racers as they recognized each other and pointed an accusing finger at one another. Knuckles bumped into Storm, the muscle of Jet's gang. "It's you!" Knuckles shouted.

"I'll make sure to pay you back for this!" Storm said.

"Hah! I let you get away last time, but definitely NOT today!" Knuckles said.

"Why wait til later you little punk? I'll pay you back tenfold, now!" Storm said.

"Come on Knuckles, do we have to do this now?" Ven said. Knuckles brought his fist back, but when he did it accidentally hit the red racer robot. The robot spun in a circle as it fell forward. Knuckles quickly turned and held it up.

"Em sorry' Knuckles apologized to the seemingly knocked out robot.

"Wahahaha! What are you doin' you clumsy fool? Was that supposed to be some kind of punch?" Storm said as he brought his fist back.

"Nice try buddy!" Knuckles said as he jumped out of the way of the punch, which caused Storm to hit the already damaged robot even harder than Knuckles did.

The robot was sitting on the ground, shutdown due to the damage. Its right arm suddenly came off. "Sorry there! It wasn't my fault! If he hadn't jumped out of the way just now I would've clobbered…"

The head of the robots popped off on a spring. "Whaaat?-!" Knuckles yelled.

Then the announcer came on the speakers. "_The race is about to start! All participants please get to your positions now!_"

"Grr, the track then, we'll settle this there!" Knuckles said.

"Looking forward to it!" said Storm as he picked up his board and left.

"Alright, let's get going." Terra as Knuckles picked up his board and they left for the starting line.

All the contestants got to the starting line and the count down started. When the countdown was at two, the racers all dashed towards the line. When the countdown reached zero they all dashed out, down the slope. At the end of the slope was a curved ramp. Storm boosted out in front of everyone else, going off the ramp. Knuckles and the others quickly followed after him. They were sent high into the air. When the five landed, they were going down a large hallway. Up ahead, they saw there was a speed type path. "Ven, go on ahead." Terra said. Ven nodded, and boosted ahead of Storm, and flying off the edge of the end. He did a front flip before landing on the rail and grinding down it at fast speeds. When Ven reached the end, he drifted around the hairpin turn ahead. Storm boosted forward to try and catch up with them. Terra, Riku, and Knuckles were riding his turbulence to gain speed on him.

When Storm drifted the hairpin turn, the others quickly jumped off the turbulence, and drifted the turn as well. Up ahead, Ven was approaching an upcoming ramp. Suddenly, Storm came up from behind and grabbed Ven's arm. With his brute strength, he threw the Ven backwards as he boosted forward off the ramp. There were two floors up ahead and Storm landed on the top floor. When the others caught up, Terra grabbed Ven and pulled him upright.

"You okay?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Ven answered. They all boosted forward and went off the ramp. They reached the same height as Storm, and landed on the same floor as him. The four all dashed forward to regain any lost speed. They drifted the two upcoming turns, and boosted when the time was right. After the second turn, they were sent down into a giant fan. The fan's powerful air boosted them up to where they needed to go. There were two separate paths to take, but the one on the right was a flight type path, so they all took the left since none of them were a flight type. They saw Storm up ahead, heading up the slope ahead. "See you chumps later!" Storm said as he dashed forward.

The four quickly flew up the slope so they wouldn't lose any speed. When they reached the top, they saw a wall of lava blocking their path. There was an open path, but Storm had gone through it and lava began flowing down, completely blocking the path. "Everyone get close to me!" Riku said. They did as they were told. Riku gathered his strength, and cast the biggest Reflega he could around the four. They flew towards the lava wall at full speed. The Reflega protected them through the wall, and they were perfectly fine on the other side. The spell disappeared, and the four continued their pursuit of Storm.

Knuckles dashed ahead, and managed to catch up to Storm by riding his turbulence. Knuckles came up on Storm's right, and landed several strong punches to him. Storm was dazed from the hits, and they group took the chance to speed passed him. They drifted a corner, before heading up another slope. There was a ramp up ahead but next to it was a path that was a tight squeeze. They chanced it and managed to just barely get through the tight path to the glider which took them further into the factory.

They were in an extremely large hallway now. They looked ahead to see a large number of robots were heading their way. "I got this." Terra said. He summoned Ends of the Earth, and charged at the robots. He hit them with wide swings, slicing the robots to pieces and sending them pieces flying everywhere. Knuckles noticed a door in the corner of an upcoming turn.

"I'll punch us a way through!" Knuckles shouted as he punched through a door, creating a short cut. As they four traveled down the path, Knuckles punched any robots in the way, out of the way. Then they turned around to see Storm was behind them and was catching up.

"You guys go ahead and finish! I'll finish things here!" Knuckles said. They nodded and Knuckles pulled back as Terra, Ven, and Riku went on ahead to the finish line. Knuckles and Storm, in the mean time, were in a fierce battle of fists.

Knuckles threw an uppercut, but Storm dodged it. Storm quickly threw a strong right hook, only for Knuckles grabbed his fist. Knuckles threw right hook of his own, but Storm caught Knuckles hand in his own. The two were grappling, both trying to gain control but their strength was even.

"Take this!" Storm said as he moved to side, trying to smash Knuckles head against the wall.

"I don't think so!" Knuckles said as he ducked and used himself as a leverage to send Storm against the wall. Storm had a massive wipe out as Knuckles continued on to the finish line.

He boosted forward and off the ramp ahead of him. Some robots came flying at him, but he punched them to the sides, removing them easily. He landed and drifted the final turn before boosting down to the finish line. He stopped as he was the last one to cross the finish line.

"This victory, I will savor." Knuckles said proudly.

"Come on, let's go meet up with the others." Riku said. They left the factory to get to the Green Forest, where the next race would take place.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Storm had just left the factory back to the Rogues flying vessel. "_Oh man, Jet's gonna kill me!_" a worried Storm thought as boarded the vessel.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Inside, Jet was sitting in his chair at his desk, once again staring at the light blue cube he always had on him. He had inherited it when he took over as leader of the Rogues after his father. Suddenly, Jet heard some pounding footsteps at the door, and turned to see what the commotion was about. Storm immediately burst into the room as he usually does. "S-Sorry!" Storm shouted as he entered the room. The surprise caused Jet to jump from his chair and fall onto the floor as the cube landed on the desk.

"Boss... Th-the red dude and his friends beat me in the race." Storm said as he pounded his hands on the desk, causing the cube to bounce up and down. Jet rose from the floor, growling and muttering angrily with a scowl.

"Man, you really are worthless." Wave said as she entered the room. Storm stared at her before returning his gaze to Jet.

"Boss, it wasn't my fault! Th-They must've cheated… That's it! They must've used some special type of Gear!" Storm said.

"What? Are you implying that you lost because of my Gear? No one can tune a Gear the way I can!" Wave at Storm. "Accept it buddy. It's not the board, your skills just suck!"

"Wh-Wha? S-S-S-Suck?-!" Storm exclaimed, horrified at what Wave just said.

"Yes. S-U-C-K. Suck" Wave repeated.

"Su-S-S" Storm stuttered.

"STOP IT!" Jet yelled, getting very annoyed by the two.

The two immediately quieted down. "Now, let's get down to business. I believe our colleague, Eggman, he's gotta be hiding something. And you know I don't like secrets, so I've got a job for you, Storm." Jet said.

"Sure." Storm said, ready for what Jet was gonna assign him.

"I want you to sneak into Eggmans base, and find out what he's hiding there. Make sure you look carefully." Jet said.

"You got it Boss!" Storm said as he turned to leave the room.

"Hey, before you go… bring something back, or don't return at all!" Jet said.

"Yes sir!" Storm saluted as he ran out of the room. He slammed the doors shut hard, which caused the portrait of Jets father that hung on the wall to fall down and crush Jet. Wave cringed as she heard Jet scream when the portrait crushed him. Wave slowly turned to see Jet on the floor with the portrait on top of him. In anger, Jet immediately shoved the portrait off, and stomped on the floor angrily, before kicking his desk, sending it flying across the room. Wave luckily got out of the way in time.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Green Forest_**

Jet and Wave then headed over to the Green Forest, while they would wait for Storm. So far, they'd been waiting for an hour.

"Aaaahm!" a relaxed Jet laid down on the soft grass with his hands behind his head. The sounds of the wind and the birds chirping made relaxing all the more sweeter.

"Oh… oh boy, oh boy, oh boy." Wave said as she paced back and forth. This was disturbing Jet and his relaxing time.

"Hmm, what's taking Storm so long?" Wave complained, becoming more impatient at how slow Storm was being.

Jet sat up. "Just sit down and relax. Chill, Wave."

"Really, Jet! How can you be so relaxed at a time like this? Don't you see? As leader you've got responsibilities. Some you understand, but you…"

To Jet, all her talking about leadership sounded like a tape fast forwarding.

Jet covered his ears and closed his eyes tight, not wanting to listen to any more of Wave's chattering. Then, he looked up, and saw Sonic go off a ramp doing a series of impressive spins. "Hmm, I think it's time for a little fun." Jet said. He slowly got up, and carefully walked away as Wave continued her responsibility talk. When she stopped and opened her eyes, Jet was gone.

"Huh?" Wave looked around for Jet. She saw him jump up to the high branch of a tree.

"Hey Jet, you come back here! Right now!" Wave shouted, but she just gave up.

"Oh why do I even bother? Unless I take charge nothing ever gets done around here." Wave said as she picked up her board and left.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sonic finished his series of tricks and landed on the ground before flipping his board into his hand. The party ran over to him. "That was amazing Sonic! When did you learn those techniques?" an amazed Tails said. Sonic just chuckled.

"Not very impressive for someone of your reputation!" a voice echoed throughout the forest. Everyone looked around for the source. Sonic fixed his eyes on a location, and his face turned to anger as he spotted Jet in one of the trees. "You…" Sonic growled.

"Y'know, I've checked you all out actually, not bad. I'll admit you've all got some skills, and you Sonic, you're pretty fast on your feet as well. But here, it's a whole different story when riding with Extreme Gear. You see to be the fastest on a Gear, you have to become one with the wind. Without wings… well, you all may as well kiss the ground and go home!" Jet said before he disappeared into the trees with an echoing laugh.

Everyone looked around, but saw Jet had disappeared. "Man, who does that guy think he is?" an annoyed Knuckles said.

"He's way too cocky for his own good." Aqua commented.

"Yeah, but I don't think he's all talk either. We'd better stay on our toes for the rest of the tournament." Sonic said.

Everyone nodded. Then, Tails remembered what Wave said about the Gear he made.

"_I never imagined anyone would enter the race with such a piece of junk_!"

"Sorry Sonic, I just need to fine tune a few things, then your Extreme Gear will be at one hundred percent!" Tails said.

"Hey Tails, you always do your best so don't worry." Sonic assured.

"Yeah, but she has a point. She's really a brilliant mecha mechanic. Sonic! Don't worry I'm gonna unlock the secret of the Extreme Gears for us!"

"_The semifinal races will begin soon! Please convene at the gate prior to that time!_" the announcer said.

"Let's go!" Sonic said.

Everyone quicky headed off to the first semifinal race.

* * *

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_Your support is much appreciated_


	17. The Semifinals

**Chapter 17 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

As the parties were approaching the first of the semifinal races, they suddenly heard rustling sounds in the bushes and the trees. "What was that?" Sora said as everyone scanned the area. Suddenly, a large number of Powerwild, Bouncywild, and Sniperwild Heartless jumped out from the trees and bushes.

"Great, just great!" Terra complained as he summoned Ends of the Earth.

"You three go on ahead, we'll take care of these guys!" Riku said to Sonic's party.

"You sure?" Sonic asked.

"Don't worry about us, just make sure the Rogues and Eggman don't get the emeralds!" Aqua said as she summoned Stormfall. Sonic nodded, and he, along with Tails and Knuckles jumped over the Heartless, and ran off towards the next race.

The rest of Sora's party summoned their weapons. "Bring it!" Roxas challenged. The Heartless charged at the group with murderous intent.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles managed to reach the first of the semifinal races just in time. Only the first three racers would advance. Their competition in this race, which was in the Green Forest, was a few Extreme Gear Heartless, some robots, and Wave? Tails just couldn't wait for his chance to show her up. The countdown reached zero and the racers were off.

Wave took a sharp lead with her slick movements, but Sonic and Knuckles were gaining on her. Up ahead was the first ramp of the race. Wave went soaring into the air doing a very impressive series of hard tricks, landing perfectly. Sonic and Knuckles went off the ramp doing a series of flips while doing other tricks as well, with Tails right behind them. The force of the four's turbulence blew away the Heartless and robots. They continued speeding their way through the forest, maneuvering through the sharp turns and hazards. After a right turn, the part of the track up ahead consisted a series of large vines scattered throughout different areas. They led to many different paths that all led to one exit.

Wave boosted towards the one with a Fly type course and went through the dash rings. Sonic grabbed Tails by his arm, and threw him forward for more speed. Tails quickly went down the same path as Wave. Sonic and Knuckles went down separate vines. Unfortunately for Sonic, there were no Speed type paths for him, so he had to just fly along the vines length. There were many twists and turns that could drive someone to a strong state of dizziness.

Knuckles went through the Power type path. There were giant berries in his way, but he smashed through the berries with his fists, sending juices everywhere. Wave was the first to reach the exit, when suddenly, she was scooped up by a giant centipede that carried her further along the track. Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic dashed forward to the exit, and a centipede carried them up the same way the first did. They saw Wave wasn't too far ahead. "Sonic! Go for it!" Knuckles yelled. Sonic nodded and curled into a ball before dashing towards Wave at incredible speeds.

Then suddenly, Wave pulled out an extremely large wrench. "What?" Sonic yelled in shock as he tried to stop, but it was too late. Wave smacked Sonic with the wrench like he was a baseball. Sonic was sent flying high, but Knuckles managed to catch him. Sonic's eyes were spinning and he had a large lump on his head.

"She's gotta good arm." Sonic said with his eyes still spinning. He shook his head and got refocused. Knuckles put him down and the three continued their path. Sonic then noticed a Power and Speed type path up ahead. Sonic quickly dashed for the Speed path as Knuckles dashed towards the Power path. Knuckles punched his way through whatever was in his path, as Sonic was grinding on the thin vine. The speed of the grind got Sonic in the lead, and after knocking everything out of the way, Knuckles got into second place.

Wave quickly threw a few mini bombs at Sonic and Knuckles. They tried avoiding them, but the bombs sent them flying into the air as Wave continued on. Tails quickly boosted up until he was behind her. Tails pulled out his sparking extension cord and swung it at Wave. Wave quickly jumped off her board and did and large back flip before landing on Tails's head.

"Too slow, shorty!" Wave mocked as she jumped off of Tails head doing a front flip and landed back on her board. Tails growled as he boosted after her. Sonic and Knuckles recovered and pursued them. Suddenly, giant spiders jumped out of the trees above them. They narrowly avoided the falling spiders, so as to not to get bitten and obviously poisoned. Then, the spiders began shooting webs out at the four of them. One of the webs wrapped around Tails and the spider began dragging Tails towards it.

"Sonic!" Tails cried.

"Hold on!" Sonic called as he did a swift "U" turn and went to help his friend. Sonic jumped off his board and spun his body like it was a buzzsaw. His spiky quills cut through the web, and Tails was set free. The two caught up with Knuckles. The four went off a large ramp, and then they plunged down into the darkness of the forest. When a light shined, they were grinding down a ramp at extremely fast speeds. For Sonic, this was no problem at all. After ten seconds, they saw a curve at the end of the vine. When they all went off it, they were sent very high into the air.

The four saw they were headed towards webs that were set up in a certain order. When they landed in a web they were thrown off it like it was a trampoline to the next web. Then, as they headed straight down, they could see the finish line ahead. Tails lined up next to Sonic, as Knuckles lined up on Sonic's other side. They all curled into balls and were spinning very rapidly. They connected to each other and electricity was zapping around them A ball of energy appeared around them, and the were sent forward at great speeds.

Wave noticed this and quickly got out of the way as the energy ball was sent down. They reached the ground, and were sent screaming across the finish line so fast their speed created a sonic boom. When they stopped, they gave each other a three way high five. Wave crossed the finish line last, but simply shrugged it off as she flew away.

Sora and the others then showed up. "How'd the race go?" Ven eagerly asked.

"We're in the finals!" Sonic announced.

"Alright!" Sora jumped and air fisted as he high fived Sonic. The party proceeded to where the finals would be held. Later that night, a race was held in the forest again, but everything was darker and there was pollen floating in the air. Jet was up against Eggman robots and Heartless, but he easily defeated them, and proceeded to the location of the finals with Wave.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The location for the final race was a large stadium in the desert. Jet and Wave met Sora and Sonic's party when they arrived. They all decided to race to where the finals would be. That night, it was a lunar eclipse, and the parts of the desert were shifting. At the end of their little race Sonic and Jet crossed the finish line at the same time. The two parties separated, and spent the night at the stadium. The final race would be tomorrow afternoon.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy luckily had many tents stocked up from their previous adventures. The guys decided to sleep on one side, and the girls slept on the other. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**Sand Ruins**_

The next afternoon, the stands in the stadium were packed as the fans were cheering loudly. Outside the stadium, Jet and Wave were sitting on a small ruin, waiting for Storm to return. Luckily, he did, as they could see him approaching from the distance. "Boss! Sorry to keep you waiting for me!" Storm called as he flew towards them. He suddenly lost control of his board, and was sent flying into the sand.

"How'd it go?" Jet asked. Storm quickly got up off of the ground.

"Take a look at this boss." Storm said as he held out his hand, revealing he had a small chip in his hand.

"Gimmee!" Wave said as she took it from Storm and connected it to her necklace, which was more like a computer. A screen appeared, and revealed all kinds of data on it. Wave then found something interesting.

"Is this?"

"What is it?" Jet asked.

"It's an entry in Eggman's diary. It's about the Babylon treasure from our ancient ancestors" Storm answered. Jet walked over to them to get a look at it. Wave opened up the part of the diary that Storm was talking about, and Jet read it out aloud.

**(AN: For this small part, italics are Jet reading the journal entry.)**

"_Heh heh heh. I got those bird brains to believe that the Babylon treasure was just a gem. I can't believe they fell for it! What fools! Can you believe the real treasure is the ancient, but advanced technology of the Babylonians? What irony! I've found a story about a boy who received an Angel Wing from the Babylonians as a gift. The story says that with it the boy was able to rule the world. And this was just a gift! I'm anxious to find this technology as soon as possible. Imagine the vast possibilities of the technology they must've kept for them selves._" Jet finished.

"Aw man, I guess it's not a gem after all." Storm said very disappointingly.

"Hmph, oh well. Guess this was just a wasted effort. Too bad really, I haven't the slightest interest in world domination, or advanced technology." Jet said as he picked up his Gear and began walking away.

"Hey, wait a second okay Jet?" Wave called. Jet stopped and turned around. "While Eggman may not look smart, he is. He has an IQ of three hundred after all. If he's interested in this technology it must have value."

"Are you saying there's profit in this?" Jet asked.

"Think about it, it may be more valuable than finding silver or gold." Wave said. Jet thought about that for a second. He was then having a daydream of himself surrounded by mountains of gold coins, laughing loudly, but was brought back to reality when Wave's necklace let off an beeping sound.

"Why'd you do that?-!" Jet complained, "I was just having this great daydream!" Wave turned her necklace alarm off.

"Come on Jet, it's time to get back to the race." Wave said.

"Alright, let's finish this, then we'll finally get the treasure of Babylon!" Jet said. The trio quickly took off towards the stadium as the race would begin soon.

* * *

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	18. Babylon Garden Rises

**Chapter 18 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

The stadium had a full crowd, ready to watch the finals of the EX World Gran Prix. "_Now our race has reached its final stage! The remaining competitors are pacing, anxious for the race to begin. Only a few minutes left, who will win this big event?_" the announcer said as a large balloon flew overhead, and confetti was falling all around the stadium.

"Sonic! Congratulations! I'll be over here cheering you on!" Amy said. Sonic gave her a nod of agreement. He then stared over at the wall behind her, where Jet stood, and Jet returned the look. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles walked up the large set of stairs to the alter of the stadium, and Jet followed them.

At the top was a podium where the five remaining Chaos Emeralds sat. Eggman's image then appeared on the big screen. "And now, it's time for the final event! And it's set here in, Sand Ruins! The rules are still the same. Anything goes in this extreme race! Although it needs no further explanation, the first one to reach the goal will win this race! But remember, the prize will be won by the racer who's preformed the best throughout this competition!" Eggman said.

When Sonic reached the podium, he pulled out the yellow emerald. He looked to his left as Jet walked up next to him, and pulled out the blue emerald. "Hah, you're lucky you got this far. It obviously wasn't due to your, _skills_" Jet said in an insulting manner.

"Heh, I won't lose now!" Sonic said as he and Jet placed their Emeralds on the podium, making a complete set of seven Chaos Emeralds.

"Ho ho ho ho ho! Get ready, it's time for the final race to begin!" Eggman announced. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Jet walked down the stairs and to the starting line

"_You say you won't lose, huh_?_ We'll see about that._" Jet thought. Sonic looked to see Sora and the others in the crowd, cheering for them. Sonic gave them a thumbs up.

The count down started.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0"

The four racers were instantly off towards the desert, with the crowds cheering loudly behind them. When they exited the stadium, the track led them into the desert. Sonic drifted his board around the large piles of sand, as Tails flew over them, and Knuckles used his skills as a treasure hunter to dig his way through them Jet was using his skills with wind to blow the piles away, leaving big dust clouds behind him. Suddenly, large obelisks began shooting out of the ground. Sonic, Tails, and Jet went around them, as Knuckles used his fists to bash right through them causing the obelisks to fall.

Up ahead at the end, was a short ramp that led to the other side. Jet accelerated, and managed to gain the lead. He flew off the ramp, doing a series of front flips and three sixty's. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles quickly boosted to the ramp and went off it, doing a synchronized series of three sixty's, ending with a back flip. When the four landed on the other side, the land was shifting more to the right ,as a wave of sand was coming from the left.

Sonic and Jet headed towards a Speed type rail that was near the wave. They hopped onto the rail, and grinded up to a platform, as Knuckles and Tails rode on the moving sand below, just barely hanging on from the edge. Up ahead were ramps on both the platform and below. The two groups went flying off the ramps to the other side, which led to an indoor area. The group did an impressive number of flips and spins, before landing inside the building. There were ancient, glowing markings inside as statues suddenly appeared. Knuckles boosted into the lead and smashed his way through the statues, sending giant pieces everywhere.

Then suddenly giant scorpions, came flying from the top of the walls. "Whoa! Didn't see that coming." Sonic said in surprise. The scorpions fired poisonous liquids from their tails at the group. They narrowly avoided it, and Jet used the distraction to his advantage. He quickly boosted forward, and maneuvered through the scorpions, easily leaving the others behind. Sonic twisted his board into a three sixty and sent a small tornado at the scorpions, sending them flying so he, Knuckles, and Tails were able to get through them. When they entered the next part of the room, there were type paths ahead as the room was split apart into two different sections.

Sonic boosted ahead of Jet and landed on the rail and grinded to the top of the top section. Jet followed him, as Tails and Knuckles took the bottom paths but had to move fast and carefully as the bottom floor was constantly shifting. At the end, Tails quickly made a huge dash for the lead. Jet brought out his feathered fans and tried to swipe Tails out of the way, but Tails brought out his extension cord and blocked the strike. Knuckles came up from behind with his shovel claws (AN: From Sonic X) to attack, but Jet blocked the other strike.

Suddenly, Sonic came from behind in his ball form at incredible speeds. "Go Sonic!" Knuckles called.

"You gotta win!" Tails said. Sonic boosted passed them towards the "U" turn that was ahead.

"Oh no!" Jet said in shock. He quickly spun his fans, sending Tails and Knuckles flying. He quickly boosted after Sonic who just finished the "U" turn towards the end of the track.

Jet quickly reached to "U" turn, and drifted it to see Sonic approaching the large bows. Jet entered the bows three seconds after Sonic. Sonic was launched first, and then Jet three seconds later. The large arrows they were riding on were sent flying into the air, before crashing onto the roof and sending them flying towards the desert.

The stadium was up ahead and Sonic was in the lead with Jet not being able to catch up. "NO!" Jet yelled as he tried to catch up, but to no avail. They passed a rock and Wave appeared behind it with a detonator in her hand. She pressed it, and the bomb on Sonic's board began blinking, and right when Sonic entered the stadium his board exploded which sent Sonic flying into the air. He came crashing down hard.

Sora's party gasped at what just happened, as Jet rode into the stadium, and crossed the finish line, winning his the race as well as the World Grand Prix. Everyone, except for Sora's party, were cheering for Jet. Sora and the others jumped from the stands and ran to check on Sonic. Tails and Knuckles just arrived as well.

"Sonic, are you alright?" Sora asked very worriedly. Sonic pushed himself up with his hands and knees. "Somehow." Sonic answered.

Jet rode over to Sonic's party and jumped off his board. Sonic and the others stared at him with looks of anger.

"Ah, the dirt suits you so well." Jet mocked as he jumped back onto his board and rode to the podium.

"Man, what an asshole!" Roxas growled.

"That was such a dirty trick!" Naminé added in.

Tails and Knuckles helped Sonic to his feet. Jet had reached the top of the podium, and pulled out his light blue cube with the ancient markings on it. The cube began glowing blue, and the Chaos Emeralds reacted to it by also glowing. The Chaos Emeralds floated up from the podium, and formed a circle around Jet. "Hey, what's he doing?" Aqua pointed. The party turned to see what Jet was doing. Each Chaos Emerald shot a beam of energy from itself, and hit the cube.

The markings on the cubes were glowing white as the cube sent a white beam of energy far out towards the desert. When it dissipated, the desert began shaking, as an extremely large object began rising out of the ground. Sora and the others gasped as to the size of the object.

When it stopped rising, they all saw what appeared to be an ancient city on an island, suspended in the air. "Is that...?" Mickey said in shock.

"This… this is… Babylon Garden." Jet said with pure amazement. Suddenly, a mechanical hand reached up, and snatched the cube out of Jets hand. Jet gripped his hand, but felt nothing. He gasped as he saw there was nothing in his hand. Suddenly, Eggman appeared behind him in his flying machine.

"Hahahahaha! Now I'll get the Light of the World, and the treasure of Babylon!" Eggman announced with glee.

"Oh no!" Amy cried. She quickly ran up the steps and jumped high into the air, grabbing hold of the machine as it boosted off towards Babylon Garden.

"Eggman! Jet shouted, raising his fist.

"Guys, we've gotta get Eggman!" Sonic said. The party quickly headed off after Eggman.

* * *

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	19. Can You Catch The Wind?

**Chapter 19 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

**_Babylon Garden_**

The Babylon Rogues large ship was flying towards Babylon Garden, as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were in Tails's airplane. Sora and his friends held on to Terra, Aqua, and Ven's Keyblade Gliders as they flew next to the plane. They all looked down into the city, and saw Eggman riding an Extreme Gear bike on one of the roads.

"Found you!" Sonic said as he was ready to jump off the plane.

"Hold on Sonic, take this!" Tails called as he threw a blue Extreme Gear towards Sonic. Sonic barely managed to catch it without blowing him and the board away. He quickly examined it, and noticed it looked like an improved version of his original board.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"It's a new Gear I prepped up just incase something like this happened." Tails explained.

"Thinking ahead Tails? Thanks!" Sonic said. He jumped off the plane, and jumped on the board. He flew down towards Babylon Garden, but noticed Jet appear next to him. "Jet!" The two landed in the city and flew in the direction Eggman was headed.

"You can't catch up with him! Get out of my way!" Jet yelled as he tried to fly faster.

"Is that what you think?" Sonic said as he matched speeds with Jet. "Take a look at this! I'll show you what true speed really is!"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, Knuckles, Tails, and the others landed on another spot in Babylon Garden, but Wave and Storm suddenly appeared. The surprise caused Tails to fall off his board.

"Oh great, looks like we've got company." Wave complained.

"We gonna rumble?" Knuckles said to Storm, cracking his knuckles. Storm smacked his fists against each other as the two approached each other. Unbeknown to them, robots were watching them from a distance.

"Targeting. Targeting. Attack!" commanded the red robot as it and other green robots ran towards the group.

Tails had fortunately noticed this. "Knuckles now's not the time to fight!" Tails shouted. Everyone turned to see the incoming robots approaching.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Ven said.

"Smart thinking, let's get out of here. Forget the red mutt, let's go Storm!" Wave called as she took off with Sora's group behind them.

"Did she say RED MUTT?-!" Knuckles shouted. He quickly got onto his board and flew after Wave and Storm. "WHY, WHY YOU!"

"Hey Knuckles, guys, wait for me!" Tails called as he jumped onto his board and flew after the others.

The blast of his turbulence sent the robots flying backwards as Tails flew after the others.

They entered a large building with all kinds of weird markings on it. As they raced throughout Babylon Garden, they were attacked by metal fighters that resembled bird heads. Knuckles and Storm easily punched through them. After five minutes of nonstop fighting and riding, they finally reached the main building of the island.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sonic reached the main building first, and looked back as Jet lost control of his board, and was sent flying into the air. "Even without wings, I can still fly!" an amazed Sonic said, as Jet came down towards the ground. "Right?"

Sonic flew off towards the building and Jet hit the ground. Jet growled as he punched his fist onto the ground.

At the building, Eggman stood there with the cube in his hand. "Where are you, Eggman?" Sonic called as he appeared and jumped off his board. he started walking towards Eggman.

"Haha! Look before you move!" Eggman said as he pulled Amy out of a bush.

"Darn!" Sonic growled as Jet appeared behind him.

"Now then, just be a good hedgehog and stay still." Eggman said as he turned back towards the door.

"Now!" Sonic shouted as he jumped onto his board and blasted up towards the sky, leaving a tornado of wind behind him. Eggman covered his face from the intense winds.

"_Can you catch the wind?_" Sonic's voice echoed throughout the area. When Eggman removed his arm from his face, he saw Sonic was gone.

"Huh? Where are you?" Eggman called.

"I'm here!" Sonic yelled from above. He dove down straight into Eggman, and the blast of wind sent Eggman flying. Sonic raced over and caught the cube in his left.

"Hey, catch!" Sonic called as he tossed the cube to Jet.

Jet caught it as Sonic landed, and the others showed up. "Hmph! I lost, so don't play games with me! I don't want your pity, nor do I need it!" Jet yelled as he held the cube over to Sonic.

"Are you crazy?-!" Wave said as she came up behind him. "If they don't want it then let's take it." Wave took the cube from Jet's hand. "Treasure is treasure."

Jet just walked with her and Storm towards the large door in the front of the building.

"I think it's time for us to split to, right?" Sonic asked Tails.

"Yeah, probably." said Tails as everyone began walking away.

"SOOOONNNNIIIIICC!" Amy's voice pierced everyone's ears, filling their faces with fear.

Sonic instantly froze where he stood. "Amy?" Sonic replied as he looked to his left periph, extremely frightened.

"How could you dive into Eggman, knowing I was there?-!" Amy yelled.

Sonic then turned to Amy, "Well, uh Amy. I thought it'd be, okay, with you, and uh..." Amy raised her head to show a face of rage.

Sonic's eyes widened and he quickly ran away as Amy pulled out her large hammer.

"Sonic! Get back here!" Amy shouted as she chased Sonic. Everyone else just laughed, or shook their heads with a smile and crossed arms, as the watched the two hedgehogs run.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile Jet, Wave, and Storm stood in front of the door Eggman was standing in front of. "Okay, let's go!" Jet said. The two nodded. Jet held up the cube and it began glowing brightly. The door shook, in response to the cube, and then opened up, to reveal a large decorated room, that looked like the room of a mansion, or a castle. They nodded to each other, and flew into the room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As Sonic was still running from Amy, everyone suddenly heard a strange howl that came from the room the Rogues entered.

"That doesn't sound good." Kairi said.

"Finally, something interesting." Sonic smirked as everyone rode towards the room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The Rogues were observing the large room as they flew through it, but saw another door at the end of the room. They entered through it to see they were in a strange dimension of darkness. They heard the same strange howl that Sonic and the others heard. They turned around to see the door behind them closing. They immediately screeched to a stop. Sora and the others were approaching the door, to see it closing. "Look, Sonic! The door's closing!" Tails alerted.

"Hurry up!" Sonic exclaimed as they all boosted forward. They all managed to get into the room before the door shut behind them. The door suddenly disappeared, as the party caught up with the rogues. Then, a exclaimed purple mist cloud appeared above them. A large figure materialized from the cloud.

"Greedy fools! Those who seek treasure will find only!" the giant said.

"Whoa, what's this?-!" Sonic said in shock. A giant purple genie that resembled a hawk appeared before them.

"How are we supposed to beat that thing?" Kairi asked.

"This way." Sonic said as he brought out the Chaos Emeralds.

"What are you gonna do with those?" Sora asked.

"Just watch." Sonic said as the Chaos Emeralds floated into the air above the parties. Then, they all felt a tremendous energy flow into them as the Chaos Emeralds turned them into a super form. Everyone's hair was now a little spikier, and golden, as their irises turned bright red.

"Whoa!" Sora said in amazement as he admired his new form. Sonic pointed at the Guardian's lamp.

"Hit him there!" Sonic said.

"Easy enough." Riku said. Everyone combined their super energy's, and boosted quickly towards the Guardian.

"What's this" the Guardian with wide eyes.

"Die!" everyone shouted as they all burst right through the Guardian's lamp.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Guardian howled as his body dissipated. A treasure chest appeared from the smoke, and hit the ground as everyone disengaged their super forms.

Sonic and Jet opened the chest. "Whoa it's!" everyone said, before hearing what sounded like the cocking of guns. They all turned around to see Eggman pointing two guns at them.

"Didn't see me coming, eh?" Eggman sneered.

"Eggman!" Sonic said in shock.

"Now hand over the treasure!" Eggman demanded. Everyone just chuckled to each other. "W-What's so funny?-! Hand over the treasure now!"

"Okay, catch!" Jet called as he threw what appeared to be a purple scroll at Eggman. Eggman dropped his guns and caught it.

"Heh heh heh heh! The treasure of Babylon is finally mine!" But then Eggman noticed something strange about it. "Hmm? What is this thing? A piece of cloth?" Eggman unfolded the cloth, which looked like a carpet. A small piece of paper fell to the ground. Eggman picked it up. "Hm this sounds interesting." Eggman said as he read the note aloud.

"_At long last, we've completed our ultimate invention. With this, our lives will be easier, without the need to work so hard to keep ourselves flying. Stolen, the thirteenth leader of the Babylon Rogues._" Eggman finished.

"It's amazing, the carpets rich texture is a sight to behold, and the way it feels is extraordinary! Something like this could have only been created in Babylon. Undoubtedly, this carpet will be in high demand all around the world, but what's this? No way! I go through the trouble of having the World Grand Prix for this?-! I-I can't believe I just wasted my time for this piece of junk!" Eggman shouted before he froze and fainted.

"Hmm? What's this?" Tails said, noticing something on the cloth.

"Good eyes. Didn't think you'd spot it for a second shorty, but you did." Wave commented.

"Hey, what're you talking about?" a confused Sonic asked.

"This, isn't just a piece of fabric." Wave said.

"Uh, I'm still confused." Goofy said as he scratched his head.

"Take a look at the material, it's the same stuff we use for our Extreme Gear." Tails said.

"You don't say." Mickey said. Then suddenly, the cube Jet had started shining, as if it were reacting to something. The fabric floated above them, and straightened itself out.

"Not sure, but maybe it's a prototype Gear." Wave said.

"A magic carpet. I thought those only existed in fiction." Sonic said, amazed.

"That's quite funny actually, I never expected that we Babylonians could be descendants of real genies." Jet said. Then suddenly, Ultima Weapon appeared in Sora's hand. Sora held his Keyblade out with both hands as a crown mark appeared beneath his feet. He was then surrounded by a twilight mist as the Keyhole appeared above. Sora pointed the Ultima Weapon at it, and fired a beam of light into it. The Light of the World came out, and merged with Sora's Drive clothes. The Keyhole then disappeared with a clicking sound, showing it was now locked.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Later, Sonic and the others stood on a large ruin in the desert; Babylon Garden floating above them in all its glory. Sonic walked up next to Jet. "So you're leaving this place?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, the back of the carpet has more words of wisdom. It says "_This was invented to allow Babylonians to travel all over the world to gather treasure_". Some things never change huh? But enough of this friendly banter Sonic. You and your friends better make sure you're all ready when we meet face to face once again." Jet said.

"You bet." Sonic agreed as they smiled at each other.

"Come on Jet, it's time to split!" Wave said. Storm smacked her on the back.

"Hey I wanted to say that!" Storm complained. Jet sighed in annoyance.

"We should split, too! Right?" Tails asked Sonic.

"Yeah." Sonic agreed.

"Yeah, we've gotta get moving too." Donald said.

Everyone threw their boards into the air, and flew in three different directions. Jet flew ahead of his friends.

"You may be the fastest… for now. But I'll be back, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Jet said as he flew off of a sand hill like a ramp. The Rogues rode off into the distance, as Sonic's party went the opposite way, and Sora's party headed for the world exit. In Sora's hand, was a Keychain that had an Chaos Emerald as its token.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_The Lanes Between_**

Now back space, Sora and the others were thinking about what to do next. "Oh man, I'm beat." Ven yawned loudly, and stretched his arms up high.

"How about we go to Traverse Town. We can get some rest there." Sora suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Roxas also yawned as he flew the Falcon Peak to Traverse Town.

* * *

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	20. How Good Things Can Go Bad

**Chapter 20 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**Traverse Town**_

The party entered Traverse Town to find a place to rest and recover. After some walking around, they had found a newly built hotel in the first district that was very large, and looked very luxurious. They entered the lobby to see it was also very luxurious. They walked up to the service desk and Sora rang the service bell.

"May I help you?" the service man asked.

"A group of fourteen, staying a night or two. Eight guys and three girls. We'll take two rooms." Sora said.

"Very well." the service man said as he entered it into his computer, and handed them two room keys as Sora paid for the group. **(AN: Jeez, that kid never runs out of money, uh I mean munny.)**

The party took an elevator to the the tenth floor, where the rooms were. The boys room number was 1023, and the girls room number was 1025. When the boys entered their room, they were admiring the large size, the luxurious furniture, and how nice and shiny everything was. However, Sora quickly became distracted by his stomach starting to growl, "Hey, is anyone else hungry?" Sora asked as his stomach growled. The other guys's stomachs growled as well and they all laughed.

"Room service on Sora!" Roxas called as he kicked his shoes off and plopped himself down on one of the couches. They ordered a large pepperoni pizza with green peppers for the guys, while the girls got a simple cheese pizza. When the food arrived after ten minutes, Sora paid the delivery man, and the guys and girls took their food into their rooms.

"They got an HD TV in here?" Ven said in amazement as he and the other guys kicked their shoes and boots off.

"Let's watch some Blitzball." Riku suggested. Roxas flipped the remote into his hand and turned to the sports channel.

In the girls room, they were ate their pizza while talking about the boys, namely Sora, and Roxas in Kairi and Naminé's case. They then heard the boys cheer loudly from across the hall. They left their room and knocked on the door to see what was going on. "Sora, what's going on in there?" Kairi asked.

"Just watching some Blitzball, Kai!" Sora replied before the boys started cheering again. Kairi rolled her eyes, as the Naminé and Aqua just shrugged it off and went back to their room. The boys cheered loudly again when the team they supported scored another amazing goal. After three hours of watching Blitzball, everyone had fallen deep asleep.

However, Roxas wasn't able to sleep very much. He just kept thinking about Xion, and how much he missed her. Not able to sleep, Roxas got his shoes on, and left the room. He decided to take a walk around the town to calm himself. Roxas opened the doors to the hotel and observed his surroundings. "_This place is like Twilight Town, except it's always night time._" Roxas thought as he walked through the doors. When he exited the hotel, the front doors suddenly slammed shut and locked themselves.

"What?-!" Roxas exclaimed, startled.

To top it off, a barrier appeared around the doors. Roxas walked up and slowly touched his finger to the barrier. The barrier's power immediately shocked him. "Ow!" Roxas grunted as he quickly withdrew his hand.

"Alright then, how about this?" Roxas said as jumped back and summoned Oblivion. He pointed the Keyblade at the doors in the same fashion as Sora, and a beam of light shot off the tip. As soon as the beam hit the barrier, it was instantly repelled, and ricocheted all over, before dissipating.

"What is this?" Roxas said, confused. He then sensed something dark and evil behind him. Roxas quickly turned around to see Heartless like ones he'd never seen before. They looked like Neoshadow's, wearing black versions of Samurai Nobody outfits. They even had swords that resembled those of the Samurai.

"This should be quick." Roxas said as he ran towards the Heartless and swung Oblivion, but the Heartless all just jumped over his strike. Roxas immediately brought out Oathkeeper in his left hand, and swung it, sending a white, crescent shaped energy wave flying towards the Heartless. **(AN: Kind of like the blue one Vanitas shoots at you in BBS.)**

One Heartless drew its right sword, and easily deflected the wave, sending it crashing into a building, causing some damage. "Not bad." Roxas complimented as he charged forward. The Heartless that deflected his energy wave ran forward with both swords in hand the same way Roxas was. Roxas unleashed a barrage of fast swings, but the Heartless simply blocked and countered his attacks like they were nothing. Roxas then brought both of his Keyblades down, but the Heartless easily blocked them.

Suddenly, a second Heartless appeared behind Roxas. It stabbed its sword forward, but Roxas could feel it from behind. He moved his head to the right, barely dodging the sword, as it left a small cut on his left cheek. Roxas jumped up over the Heartless and landed behind them. A small stream of blood trickled down Roxas's cheek. "_They're good._" Roxas thought as he wiped the blood away with his thumb, and was thinking of a way to counter. Roxas turned, and ran away, with the Heartless tailing him. Then suddenly, four more of the mysterious Heartless appeared in front of him. "What?" Roxas skidded to a stop.

Then, a larger one, with more armor and four swords on its back appeared. "You must be the leader." Roxas pointed Oblivion at the Heartless. Roxas thought he couldn't fight in the place he was now in, so he jumped towards a tall building, and ran straight up the building wall, with the nine Heartless on his tail. When Roxas reached the top of the building, the Heartless appeared in front of him in a circle. The leader landed in the middle. it drew two of its swords and charged at Roxas. Roxas blocked the swing from the Heartless's swords, but was slowly being pushed back. "_It's got so much power_" Roxas mentally grunted as he was being pushed towards the edge of the roof.

"No way!" Roxas yelled as he used as much force as he could to push himself forward against the swords. The Heartless jumped back as Roxas pushed his Keyblades down. Roxas used Light Quick Run, and dashed at the leader Heartless. The two clashed swords, causing sparks to emit from their connected blades. Suddenly, the Heartless's other two swords floated up behind Roxas, surrounded by dark energy. They flew forward and pierced Roxas in the back. Roxas cried out as the swords pierced his back. The blades pulled themselves out of his back and Roxas fell to his knee. He used Oblivion as a crutch to hold himself up.

He weakly pushed himself up as blood was staining the back of his shirt. Roxas got up full, and quickly got back into his battle stance. Suddenly, the eight lower Heartless appeared around him in a circle. The sent out dark lightning from their hands, and began electrocuting Roxas. Roxas screamed loudly in pain and his body felt like it could give out at any moment. Using his will power, Roxas slowly folded his arms across each other, and used Criss-Cross. "Back off!" Roxas yelled as he swung his Keyblades out, releasing a circular wave of black and white energy. The Heartless were sent flying back as Roxas was released from the electric cage.

Suddenly, the large heartless charged forward to attack. It unleashed a strong barrage of slashes that Roxas was barely able to counter in his weakened state.

"_This style of fighting_... _it's just like mine, no, it's exactly like mine._" Roxas thought as he did a back flip over the Heartless's final slash. "So it's like I'm fighting myself."

The eight Heartless charged towards Roxas with their two swords ready to attack. Roxas closed his eyes, and visualized the Heartless as himself. He knew how they were going to attack him, so he quickly thought of what technique he could use to counter it. The Heartless dashed towards Roxas, about to do a Dual Bout, but Roxas quickly did a front flip over the Heartless's swings.

While upside down in the air, Roxas surrounded Oathkeeper and Oblivion with a blue and white aura, and threw them at the Heartless. The Keyblades spun rapidly and managed to take out three of the Heartless. The spinning Keyblades returned to Roxas instantly. "Time to show you guys a new move I made." Roxas said as he closed his eyes. He focused and channeled all his light energy throughout his being as his body was surrounded by an aura of light. Suddenly, wisps of light energy came off of Roxas's aura equaling a total of six. The auras began reshaping themselves, until they took the shape of Roxas. Light copies of Oathkeeper and Oblivion appeared in their hands.

Roxas and the copies charged at the Heartless with their Keyblades ready. The Heartless jumped into the air, as did Roxas and the Roxas copies. They were locked in an all out battle of Keyblades against swords. Sparks were sent flying as blades clashed against each other. As the battle continued on, Roxas continued receiving more wounds from the Heartless. A Roxas copy swung both of its Keyblades up,sending a Heartless flying into the air. Roxas came down with both of his Keyblades next to each other, and slashed the Heartless right down the middle. The Heartless dissipated as Roxas resumed his stance in the air. The fight took them to the Third District. In the large space, Roxas and his copies were still fighting the Heartless, but suddenly a Guard Armor Heartless appeared and two Opposite Armor's behind it.

"Come on!" an annoyed Roxas yelled, seeing as he already had enough to deal with as it was. Suddenly, more Heartless began gathering, filling up the area. This reminded Roxas of the time he betrayed the Organization, and was attacked by never ending Heartless until Riku assisted him.

"Alright then, time to go all out!" Roxas said as he brought his copies around him. They all merged back into Roxas, and a large aura of light appeared around him. Roxas levitated into the air and held his Keyblades up so the tips faced the sky.

"Take this!" Roxas yelled as a large blast of white energy blasted down from the skies, wiping out the rest of the Heartless in an instant. When Roxas landed on the ground, he barely had any energy left. Despite this, Roxas knew he had to get moving incase anymore Heartless would appear. He limped his way to the Second District while dripping a lot blood behind him.

When he reached the Second District, he suddenly felt a large jolt of pain shoot throughout his body. Roxas started coughing hard, also couching out a bunch of blood onto the pavement.

"D-Damn it, I used too much power." Roxas grunted as he clutched a large diagonal slash across his chest and abdomen he received from the leader Heartless. Roxas felt all energy leave his body, and dropped his Keyblades. The weapons clattered to the ground, and disappeared in flashes of black and white. Roxas collapsed on his back, as the blood flowing from him formed a pool of blood around him. Rain began falling as Roxas lay in his own blood.

"_Naminé._" Roxas thought as his irises turned blank, as if he'd just lost his soul.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile, at the hotel, Naminé started shuffling around in her sleep. "_Naminé_." she heard Roxas's voice calling her in her head. Naminé gasped as she awoke with a jolt. She suddenly felt a stinging pain in her chest. She always had that feeling when Roxas was in trouble. She quickly went to the boys room and knocked on the door.

A sleepy Sora answered the door, rubbing one eye, with his other eye half opened. "Naminé, what is it?" Sora yawned.

"Sora, where's Roxas?" Naminé worriedly asked.

"He should be right-" Sora turned and saw Roxas was gone.

"Oh no!" Naminé gasped with her hands over her mouth.

"Relax, he probably went out for a walk or something." Sora said. **(AN: Yeah he did Sora. THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!)**

"But I can sense it, he's in trouble. I can feel it." Naminé said. Sora saw she had that serious look in her eyes.

Deciding to go out and find him, they woke up the others, and everyone put on their black coats before they went out to search for Roxas. When they left the hotel, the searched the First District first. They didn't find him. They then searched the Third District on instinct. Still nothing, so all that was left was the Second District.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Second District**_

When they arrived, they all gasped as they saw Roxas lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

"ROXAS!" Naminé cried as she and the others raced over to him. They slowly turned him over to see he had a large bleeding slash on his front torso. Plus, he also had two stab wounds on his back, and smalls cut on his face, arms, and legs. "Who could've done this?" a down Sora asked.

"We can't worry about that now." Kairi said with tears in her eyes. Tears streaked down Naminé's cheek and onto Roxas's face. Naminé placed her pointer and middle fingers on Roxas's neck. She felt light thumps on his neck.

"He's still alive, but barely." Naminé chocked out through her crying.

"Let's get him back to the hotel." Sora suggested.

"We got company!" Terra alerted. Everyone looked to see a large number Heartless were charging towards them.

"Okay, new plan. Let's get him to Merlin's Study." Sora said. Terra quickly picked up Roxas and carried him on his back, and Sora led the way to the Third District. They headed towards the door with the flame mark on it. Mickey cast a Firaga spell on the door, and it opened for them. It quickly closed as soon as they were through, and Mickey used his light powers to put a barrier of light around the front of the door.

The party got to Merlin and requested his help immediately. Merlin had a treatment he could heal the wounds, but it would take some time. Terra laid Roxas on the bed as Sora and Kairi found towels to wet to clean Roxas of his blood.

Naminé removed Roxas's jackets to reveal his bare skin. Sora and Kairi returned and gently ran the towels against the wounds, cleaning Roxas of his blood. When they were done, Merlin finished the mixing of magical healing herbs. They spread the herbs over his wounds and covered them in bandages. Everyone sat around the room as Roxas rested.

"_Looks like we'll be here longer than I thought._" Sora thought as he stared at the ceiling with worry in his eyes.

* * *

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	21. Keyblade Wielder Training: Part 1

**Chapter 21 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

A good two hours passed, and the party was sitting around in their soaked black coats, thinking about what to do next. "Well, now what do we do?" Ven asked.

"All we can do is lay low until Roxas recovers. Nothing else we can do at this point besides that." Sora said.

"Sora, my good lad, how would you and your friends like to train when Roxas recovers?" Merlin asked.

"In what way?" Sora asked, interested.

"Learning how to properly fight like Keybearers." Merlin answered.

"Properly?" a confused Sora asked.

"Yes, Sora. You and your friends are very skilled, but there it so much more for you to learn." Merlin turned to Terra, Aqua, and Ven. "You three say you've regained your lost memories correct? You must teach these young ones the skills you have learned."

"Can we?" Aqua asked, unsure, "I mean, we're not even Keyblade Masters yet."

"That doesn't mean you can't show them the first steps." Merlin said.

Terra jumped up from his seat. "Sure, why not?" Terra said enthusiastically.

"I guess we can." Aqua agreed.

"Sure, it'll be fun Aqua!" Ven assured. Sora, Riku, and Kairi exchanged looks. Sora turned his head back to them.

"Alright, we'll do it." Sora agreed. Riku and Kairi nodded.

"Come, this way." Merlin said as he opened a portal. The party removed their wet coats and followed merlin through, leaving Naminé, who was sleeping beside Roxas's arm, and Roxas alone. A few minutes later, Naminé woke up to see Roxas awake and weakly smiling down at her.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Roxas said with a raspy voice.

"How are you feeling, Roxas?" Naminé yawned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Well, my body still aches, but it doesn't hurt like before. But, seeing your face is the best medicine I can have." Roxas said. This made Naminé blush a lot. Then suddenly Roxas's stomach began to growl. Roxas blushed more than Naminé, who began laughing.

"I'll be back with some food." Naminé said as she walked away while still giggling.

Roxas just stared at the ceiling, thinking about how he wound up in this bed in the first place. "_Who were those Heartless? There were completely different from the others._" Roxas thought. Five minutes later, Naminé returned with a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.

"Say ah." Naminé said as she held the hot spoon to Roxas's mouth.

"Ahhhh." Roxas opened his mouth and Naminé placed the spoon into his mouth. He closed his mouth on the spoon and swallowed the spoonful of soup. After the third spoonful, Roxas felt something. "Hey, what's in this soup?" Roxas asked with a burst of energy, "I feel like I'm being healed faster."

"That's because I added some Elixirs to the soup. Kairi taught me how." Naminé answered as she fed Roxas another spoonful.

"Wow, Kairi's really amazing." Roxas said after swallowing. When he finished his soup, Roxas felt good as new. He sat up and stretched his arms.

"Wow I feel great!" Roxas shouted as he threw hit fist up. "Hey nurse, do I get a lollipop?"

Naminé giggled at Roxas's joke. He removed his bandages to reveal his bare chest, stomach, and back. His wounds were healed completely, without even leaving a scar.

Roxas grabbed his jackets and put them back on. "So where are the others?" Roxas.

"They're with Merlin. They're waiting for us." Naminé said.

"Then let's go!" Roxas said as he and Naminé ran through the to where the rest of the party was.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The couple soon entered the training room the others were in. Roxas whistled at the large size of the room. Sora turned to see the two approaching.

"Feeling better?" Sora asked.

"I'm all better thanks to Naminé." Roxas said.

"I hope you're ready for some intense training." Terra said. Roxas nodded confidently.

"Shall we begin?" Merlin. Everyone nodded. Merlin raised his hands, and three portals appeared before the group. "This will make it easier for you. Now, select the ones you will train with and step through."

"I'll train with Terra." Riku said.

"Alright!" Terra excitingly said as he and Riku knocked fists.

"I'll train with Aqua." Sora said.

"Me too." Naminé said. Aqua nodded, and the two walked over to her.

"Guess we'll be training with Ven." Kairi said to Roxas. Roxas nodded and they walked over to Ven.

"Good luck." Merlin said. The parties nodded, and walked through their respective portals.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Riku and Terra exited their portal to find themselves in a large dimension that was completely rock. The sky was clear, and a gentle wind blew across. "Whoa, this place is incredible." Riku admired the area.

"Riku, focus. We have a lot of work to do." Terra said. Riku nodded.

"Now I'll teach you two skills that will help you on the road ahead. They are called, Shotlocks, and Command Styles." Terra said.

"What kind of techniques are they?" Riku asked.

"How bout I give you a demonstration." Terra said, summoning Ends of the Earth. Immediately, the ground shook, and rocks creatures materialized out of the ground. "First, I'll show you a Shotlock.

Terra turned to the rock creatures, and focused on the creatures. Riku gasped when he noticed green lock-on marks rapidly appear on the rock creatures. "Sonic Shadow!" Terra shouted. Terra was then covered in an aura of darkness, and flew towards the rock creatures with his Keyblade out in front. Riku gasped as Terra's flying speed was incredible, and he rapidly tore through the rock creatures within seconds.

"Amazing." Riku said in awe of the attack. Terra walked back to Riku.

"That was a Shotlock. It involves locking on to the target, or targets, and hitting them with a strong attack. There are five types of Shotlocks: Barrages, Salvos, Rushes, Specials, and Ultimates. The one you just saw me use was a Rush. Now, let's see what you can do." Terra said.

On cue, several more rock creatures materialized from the ground a short distance away. Riku immediately summoned Way to the Dawn. "So, what exactly do I do?" Riku asked.

"First, you've got to focus on your targets. Once you're focus is strong enough, the lock-ons will come automatically. But try to get them all as fast as you can. At the lowest level, the lock-ons will appear slower, and it will be harder to get the count to maximum. However, even if you can't get the count to its maximum amount, you can still use the Shotlock, just not to its full strength. Understand?" Terra asked.

Riku nodded, and turned his attention to the rock creatures. He closed his eyes, and focused on the creatures as much as he could. "_Focus, focus, focus!_" Riku growled as nothing happened.

"Riku, you've gotta calm down. You just need to concentrate, and let the feeling flow." Terra said.

Riku nodded and calmed hit frustration. "_Let it flow._" Riku thought. Soon enough, Riku felt his mind open up, and green lock-ons began appearing on the rock creatures.

"That's it Riku, you're doing it!" Terra said. Soon enough, Riku felt the lock-ons reach their maximum count. Riku's eyes suddenly shot open.

"Saber Rain!" Riku shouted. Riku quickly began firing a barrage small blades at the rock creatures. The flying blades tore through the rock creatures with ease.

"You did it!" Terra cheered.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Riku proudly said.

Nope," Terra smiled. "The Shotlock you just used was a Barrage type. First you fire a volley of attacks, then finish with a burst of two or three blasts, depending on the Shotlock."

"Cool," Riku said. "So, what's next?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Aqua's party found themselves in a beautiful grassy field, with a large lake in the center. The sky was blue, large clouds covered parts of it, and the the breeze was a warm, gentle one. aqua turned to Sora and Naminé. "Now I'll get you two ready for the harder fights ahead." Aqua said. The two nodded. "Good, then let's get started." Aqua summoned Stormfall.

"The first of two techniques I am going to teach you is called a Shotlock."

"Shotlock?" Sora and Naminé questioned, looking confused.

"I'll demonstrate for you." Aqua said. The lake water began swirling, and from it, water creatures materialized out. Aqua turned to the water creatures, and focused on them. Sora and Naminé gasped when they saw green lock-ons rapidly appear on the water creatures.

"Bubble Blaster!" Aqua shouted. She began firing a large barrage of giant bubbles at the water creatures, knocking them back. She then began firing rapid bursts of two bubbles at the water creatures, destroying them easily. Sora and Naminé looked on in amazement.

"That was a Shotlock." Aqua said.

"That was so amazing!" Sora and Naminé said in unison.

"There are five types of Shotlocks. Barrages, Salvos, Rushes, Specials, and Ultimates. The one I used just now was a Barrage type. Now, I want you two to try." Aqua said. The two nodded and summoned their Keyblades. Two groups of water creatures then materialized out of the lake, one for Sora, and one for Naminé.

"Sora, I want you to try first." Aqua said.

"Right!' Sora acknowledged.

"You need to focus as hard as you can on the target's, but don't frustrated, or distracted." Aqua said. Sora nodded and focused. He concentrated as hard as he could on them, without any tension building. Soon enough, green lock-ons appeared on the water creatures, and the number reached maximum.

"Holy Burst!" Sora shouted. Sora levitated in the air and pointed the Kingdom Key at the water creatures. Light energy charged at the tip, and then Sora fired a salvo of six light orbs that homed in one the water creatures. After the water creatures were quickly destroyed, Sora dropped down and landed on the ground.

"Good Sora, you're a quick learner." Aqua complimented.

"Ah, it was nothing." Sora smiled while scratching the back of his head.

"Okay Naminé, it's your turn." Aqua smiled. Naminé nodded and walked forward. Naminé did as Sora did, and focused as much as she could without a distraction. the lock-ons instantly appeared faster than Naminé expected, and quickly locked onto all of the water creatures.

"Wave Rider!" Naminé shouted as she rushed towards the water creatures. She was covered by an aura of water, and as she rushed through the water creatures, she left a trail of water in her wake, destroying the water creatures easily.

Aqua and Sora clapped for her. "That was good Naminé.!" Aqua cheered.

"That attack was so cool!" Sora excitedly exclaimed. Naminé blushed as she shyly walked over to them with her arms behind her back.

"Now you know how to use a Shotlock. Sora, yours is a Salvo type, and Namine, yours is a Rush type."

"Are there any more we can use?" Sora eagerly asked.

"Yes, but you'll have to discover them yourself," Aqua said. "Now, onto the next lesson."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Ven's party exited the portal to find themselves in a breezy desert. Sand covered the whole land, and the sun's ray flared down on them "Okay guys, now I'll teach you some useful techniques you'll need. You ready" Ven said, summoning Wayward Wind. Roxas and Kairi nodded. On cue, the sand began to shift, and sand creatures materialized from it. Ven turned to the sand creatures and focused on them. Immediately, green lock-on marks appeared on them. They flashed when they reached maximum. "Flame Salvo!" Ven shouted. He began firing a large volley of fireballs at the sand creatures, pushing them back. Ven then began firing bursts of three fireballs, finishing them off.

Roxas and Kairi were very impressed. "Whoa, what was that?" Roxas asked in amazement.

"That, my friend, is what's called a Shotlock. You just need to focus on the enemy, and hit them with your power." Ven answered. "Now I want you to do it."

"Alright." Roxas said. He summoned Oathkeeper, and a group of sand creatures appeared before him. Roxas closed his eyes and focused on the sand creatures. He felt a slight frstration, but he quickly brushed it away. Soon enough, green lock-ons rapidly flashed on the sand creatures until they hit their max count.

"Army of Light!" Roxas shouted. He began firing a large volley of his 13 Beams at the sand creatures, easily destroying them.

"Nice one Roxas. Alright, Kairi, your turn." Ven said. Kairi nodded and summoned Destiny's Embrace. Several more sand creatures materialized, and Kairi focused on them. Within seconds, Kairi began locking on to the sand creatures.

"Burning Soul!" Kairi shouted. She began rushing through sand creatures while cloaked in a crimson flame, and leaving a red fire trails behind her. The sand creatures were incinerated within seconds.

"Good work Kairi!" Ven called.

"Thanks!" Kairi called back as she returned to the two.

"Roxas, yours is a Barrage type, and Kairi, yours is a Rush type," Ven explained, "Now, let's move to the next step."

* * *

AN: So now Sora's party have learned Shotlocks. What's next?

_Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated._


	22. Keyblade Wielder Training: Part 2

**Chapter 22 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

"Okay Riku, ready for then next lesson?" Terra asked. Riku confidently nodded.

"Alright then. The next ability I'm going to teach is called a Command Style." Terra said

"Could I get a demonstration?" Riku asked.

"Of course." Terra said. A bunch of rock creatures then materialized out of the ground. Terra charged at them and attacked with several Attack Deck Commands. He easily destroyed them using Binding Strike, Stun Edge, and Sliding Dash. After the rock creatures were destroyed, Terra returned to Riku.

"Here goes!" Terra said. He charged up energy, and quickly activated his Critical Impact Command Style. Riku looked in amazement as Terra and his Keyblade were covered by a bright aura.

"See, Command Styles are kind of like Sora's Drive Forms, but their easier to use. Basically, a Command Style is a form you can take that enhances your abilities. Observe." Terra said, turning his attentions to a group of large rock creatures that just materialized from the ground. Terra charged at them just as they did. Terra swiftly swung his Keyblade up, easily destroying one of the large creatures. He followed up with more upward swings, easily destroying the rest. Riku looked on in pure amazement at Terra's raw power.

"Now I'll show you a finisher." Terra said. On cue, a small group of medium sized rock creatures materialized from the ground. "Say good-bye!" Terra yelled as he jumped high in the air and charged up energy. he came flying down, and slammed his Keyblade in the middle of the rock creatures, making a large shockwave that destroyed all the rock creatures at once. With that, the aura around Terra and Ends of the Earth faded away. Terra then turned to Riku.

"Okay Riku, let's see what you can do." Terra said.

"But how will I know what attacks to use to activate it?" Riku asked. Terra gave it some thought for a second.

"Try experimenting. It's different with each style." Terra suggested.

"How will I know it's going to activate?" Riku asked.

"Trust me, you'll know." Terra assured.

"Alright." Riku said in an unsure tone. A group of rock monsters then materialized before Riku. Deciding to follow Terra's advice, Riku experimented with different moves. He first used a combination of physical deck commands, such as Binding Strike, Stun Edge, and Sliding Dash. Unfortunately, none of them worked. When the next group of rock monsters came, Riku tried hitting them with all magic attacks, like Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder. Still nothing.

"Try using physical and magic commands!" Terra called.

"Alright!" Riku acknowledged. Another group of rock monsters appeared before Riku. After some thought, Riku an idea quickly came to Riku's head. Riku hit the rock monsters with a combination of physical attacks, and Dark Aura's. Riku suddenly felt a strong power surge throughout his whole body. Terra could sense it as well.

"That's it Riku! Now compress the energy around your body, and then release it all at once!" Terra shouted. Riku extended out his left arm out, and crossed his right arm far over it. A sphere of swirling energy then appeared around Riku's body.

Once he was ready, Riku swung his arms apart, and activated his own personal Command Style, Darkstrom. Riku's body and Keyblade were covered by a dark blue aura with white wisps at the edge.

"Whoa!" Riku exclaimed as he checked out his aura.

"Now try it out!" Terra called. Riku nodded and charged at a group of rock creatures. He was able to wipe them out easily with strong and fast hits.

"Okay, I think I'm ready to use the finisher!" Riku called.

"Okay!" Terra acknowledged. Soon enough, a large rock creature emerged from the ground. It let out a loud roar at Riku, but he remained unfazed. Riku quickly activated his Darkstrom finisher. Way to the Dawn was quickly covered with light energy, making a large blue blade. Riku charged forward and slashed his enhanced sword against the rock creature. The powerful sword easily cut into its rock skin. He finished the combo with a powerful spin slash, which destroyed the rock monster, and blasted it to bits. With that, Riku's Command Style ended, and the aura faded.

"Nice work Riku." Terra complimented as he walked over to him.

"Thanks. I feel so much stronger now." Riku said.

"So, now that the training's done, how about a little sparring?" Terra asked, summoning Ends of the Earth, and getting into his battle stance.

"Hmph, I thought you'd never ask." Riku smirked as he got into his battle stance. The two quickly charged each other and clashed their Keyblades.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Okay you two, ready for the next step?" Aqua asked.

"Yes!" the two said confidently.

"Alright then. Next, I'll teach you two how to use Command Styles." Aqua said as she summoned Stormfall. Several water creatures quickly appeared from the lake, and stood a few meters away from Aqua. "Watch closely.

Aqua quickly hit the water creatures with several Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells. The water creatures managed to endure the attacks. Aqua then turned back to Sora and Naminé. Aqua quickly extended and crossed her arms as a sphere of energy appeared around her. When she swung her arms apart, she activated her Spell Weaver Command Style. Sora and Naminé could do nothing but look in awe as they felt a strong light from Aqua. "That's incredible!' Sora said with wide eyes.

"Just wait, it get's better." Aqua assured. Aqua levitated her Keyblade with light and controlled it with her right arm. The spinning Keyblade slashed through the water creatures easily, destroying them simultaneously.

"Farewell!" Aqua yelled as she activated her Spell Weaver finisher. Aqua spun around the area rapidly with a wisp of light spinning around her. The attack wiped out the rest of the water creatures as soon as they touched Aqua. Aqua ended the attack, and the light around her faded. She then turned to Sora and Naminé.

"Now, it's your turn." she said to them.

"Me first, me first!" Sora happily shouted as he jumped for joy like a kid on Christmas morning.

Aqua just giggled at Sora's childish answer. "Okay, okay, Sora, settle down. You can go first." Aqua assured with her hands raised.

"YES!" Sora shouted, throwing his fist in the air. He quickly switched places with Aqua, and summoned the Kingdom Key. On cue, several water creatures materialized before him.

"Here goes!" Sora yelled as he charged the creatures. He jumped high in the air and slashed one water creature perfectly in half. Sora then used Binding Strike, and destroyed three more in rapid succession. With only one more left, Sora used Quick Blitz, and destroyed it easily. Instantly, Sora felt a great power rise within him. Sora spread his legs apart and brought his right arm under his left, as a sphere of swirling light formed around him.

"That's it, Sora, you're doing it! Now release all the power at once!" Aqua instructed. Doing as he was told, Sora spread his legs apart and brought his right arm out in front. Once he was ready,Sora swung his arm out, and stomped his foot on the ground, letting out all the energy out in one burst.

In that instant, Sora activated his personal Command Style, Golden Sun. While the Style was activated, Sora and the Kingdom Key were covered with a golden orange aura. Sora looked at himself in amazement.

"This feels awesome." Sora said. Suddenly, another large group of water creatures materialized before Sora. Sora smirked, and attacked the creatures with his new power. Sora swung the Kingdom Key up fast, destroying two water creatures with one swing. He then spun around and delivered a wide slash, destroying four water creatures at once. Feeling he was ready to use the finisher, six more water creatures appeared before Sora.

"It's over!" Sora yelled as he used his Golden Sun finisher. Sora rapidly slashed the Kingdom key five times, destroying five of the water creatures, before summoning a golden fire ball, covered with light, on the Kingdom Key's tip. Sora launched the fireball, and easily destroyed the last water creature. With that, Sora's aura faded away.

"That was good, Sora!" Aqua cheered.

"Thanks!" Sora called as he dismissed his Keyblade and ran back to the two females.

"Okay, Naminé, it's your turn." Aqua said. Naminé and walked to where Sora was standing. As soon as a group of water creatures materialized, Naminé summoned Two Become One. She charged the creatures and hit them with a Binding Strike and Sliding Dash, while also mixing in a few Blizzard spells. The result was Naminé's personal Command Style, Angel Wing. Naminé's body glowed with white aura, and a pair of angel wings made of light energy appeared on her back, and a few white feathers were floating around her body.

When another group of water creatures materialized, Naminé easily destroyed them with speedy, crowd-control style attacks. When she was ready, she used her Angel Wing finisher. Her wings glowed a bright white, and she spun around the area like a twister, the wings slashing through the water creatures like blades. When the finisher was over, the glow and energy wings faded, and Naminé returned to Sora and Aqua. "That was well done, Naminé." Aqua smiled. Naminé embarrassingly smiled and looked to the side, the blush in her face becoming apparent.

Aqua then summoned Stormfall to her hand. "Alright you two, show me what I've taught you." Aqua instructed as she got into her battle stance.

"Okay!" Sora and Naminé nodded as they summoned their Keyblades and got into their battle stances.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Now, I'll show you guys how to use a Command Style." Ven said. Kairi and Roxas nodded in understanding. Ven turned as a group of sand creatures materialized from the sand. Ven used Strike Raid and threw Wayward Wind at them. The flying Keyblade easily tore through two sand creatures before returning to Ven's hand. Ven quickly charged towards the rest and defeated them easily with fast swings, and a couple of Quick Blitzes. When he was done, he quickly ran back to Roxas and Kairi.

"Okay, here goes!" Ven said as he got into a stance and his body was surrounding by a spinning orb of energy. Ven then stomped his foot on the ground, and activated his personal Command Style, Fever Pitch. His body and Keyblade were glowing light blue. Roxas and Kairi could only look on with astonishment.

"This, is a Command Style," Ven said as another group of sand creatures materialized behind him, "And this, is how you use one!"

Ven charged the creatures and attacked with a large barrage of fast swings, easily taking down scores of sand creatures as he attacked. After he reached his limit, he used his Fever Pitch finisher. "See-ya!" Ven said as he struck forward with a combo of swings before cutting five slash marks of light into the ground, destroying the rest of the sand creatures. When the attack was over, the glow around Ven and Wayward Wind faded, and the young boy returned to the others.

"Okay, it's your turn now." Ven said to Roxas.

"Alright." Roxas said as he walked forward and summoned Oblivion to his hand. A large group of sand creatures then materialized before him. Roxas, however, initiated a pre-emptive attack, and destroyed an unsuspecting sand creature with a Quick Blitz. Roxas then pointed Oblivion up an cast a Thundaga, easily wiping out the rest of the sand creatures. Ven and Kairi gasped in awe of Roxas's raw power, seeing as he wiped out a large group of enemies in less than ten seconds. What amazed Ven even more, was that Roxas then initiated a Command Style charge. He crossed his arms over each other like he would if he were dual wielding. Roxas then swung his arms out and activated his personal Command Style, Event Horizon. Roxas and Oblivion glowed with a bright white light around them.

Another group of sand creatures quickly appeared before Roxas. Seeing them coming, Roxas quickly swung wide with Oblivion, easily destroying two sand creatures in one strike. The rest were easy pickings for Roxas, who took them down with just a few quick strikes. "Unreal." Kairi said in amazement.

A giant sand creature then appeared before Roxas. Feeling his Style reached its peak, Roxas quickly activated his Event Horizon finisher. Oblivion became covered with light and Roxas rapidly darted from side to side, swinging Oblivion with incredible speed and strength. Roxas ended the attack with summoning four thin pillars of light that shot out in straight paths, repeating the attack before the Style ended. The giant sand creature's body ceased movement and harmlessly blew away into the wind. When Roxas returned to Ven and Kairi, he saw their faces were full of shock and amazement.

"That was the fastest I've ever seen someone do that! How did you do it?" Ven asked.

Roxas just shrugged his shoulders, "Lucky try?" he responded.

While still confused, Ven decided to move on with the lesson, "Your turn, Kairi." Ven said.

Kairi nodded and walked to the area where Roxas stood while summoning Destiny's Embrace. Once the group of sand creatures appeared, Kairi immediately charged at them. She took down a few with regular strikes, before taking out four more with Binding Strike, and destroying the last two with a spinning Firaga. **(AN: The way Firaga works in KHII)**

Soon afterward, Kairi finally activated her personal Command Style, Radiant Sunset. Her body and Keyblade were covered by a golden yellow aura with pink sparkles of light. As soon as the next group of sand creatures appeared, Kairi defeated them easily with skillful, wide-ranged slashes. Kairi then quickly found herself surrounded by more sand creatures. She quickly used her Radiant Sunset finisher. She charged her Keyblade with light energy, and then swung wide in a graceful spin. The sword swing released a wave of majestic light, effectively destroying the creatures.

"That was good, Kairi!" Ven waved.

"Thanks!" Kairi waved back as she dismissed Destiny's Embrace and returned to the twins.

"And that concludes the lesson." Ven said. He then summoned Wayward Wind, and got into his battle stance. "Now, show me what you've got!"

The two nodded, and summoned their Keyblades. Roxas got into the same battle stance as Sora. Ven noticed that like before, that Roxas was using just Oblivion. "Only going with one again, Roxas?" Ven asked.

"I've already mastered dual wielding, but my single-Keyblade skills have gotten rusty. Mind helping me fix that?" Roxas retorted with a smirk.

"Sure thing!" Ven replied as he charged towards Roxas and Kairi, who charged towards him in response.

* * *

_AN: Sorry for the ability rushing, but I just want to get on with the story._

_So here are the Command Styles and Shotlocks Sora and the others have learned:_

**_Shotlocks:_**

**_Sora - Holy Burst (A Salvo type) = Sora fires salvos of holy light orbs. _**

**_Roxas - Army of Light (A Barrage type) = Roxas fires a volley of his 13 beams._**

**_Riku - Saber Rain (A Barrage type) = Riku fires a volley of blades. _**

**_Kairi - Burning Soul (A Rush type) = Kairi rushes enemies while cloaked in a crimson flame. _**

**_Naminé - Wave Rider (A Rush type) = Naminé rushes enemies while cloaked in an aura of water. _**

**_Command Styles (And the aura's of the Command Styles):_**

**_Sora - Golden Sun (Aura = Golden orange)_**

**_Roxas - Event Horizon (Aura = Bright white)_**

**_Riku - Darkstrom (Aura = Dark blue with white wisps)_**

**_Kairi - Radiant Sunset (Aura = Golden yellow with pink sparkles)_**

**_Naminé - Angel Wing (Aura = White with a pair of energy angel wings on her back and a few feathers floating around her body)_**

**_Command Style description & finishers:_**

**_Golden Sun = Sora's personal Command Style that utilizes fast, powerful attacks. The finisher consists of Sora rapidly slashing his Keyblade five times, and then shooting a golden fireball of light. _**

**_Event Horizon = Roxas's powerful Command Style that uses the power of light to deliver rapid slashes with great strength. The finisher consists of Roxas rapidly darting around the field and slashing his light enveloped Keyblade with great strength. He then summons four thin pillars of light to quickly move in straight paths to ends of the field, dealing heavy damage to any enemies in their path. (If he's Dual Wielding, he dismisses his left Keyblade when he uses the finisher.) _**

**_Darkstrom = Riku's exclusive Command Style that uses fast and strong hits to their maximum. The finisher has Riku enveloping his Keyblade with light, and delivering powerful slashes. _**

**_Radiant Sunset = Kairi's personal Command Style that utilizes the power of light to use skillful, wide-ranged attacks. The finisher consists of Kairi charging up energy, and slashing her light charged Keyblade in a spin, releasing a wave a majestic light. _**

**_Angel Wing = Naminé's unique Command Style that deals with speed-based, crowd control attacks. The finisher consists of Naminé energizing her two energy wings on her back and spinning wildly around the field, slashing enemies like a twister. _**

**_(AN: So for Roxas, his Command Style finisher is his Limit Break and Final Limit from 358/2 Days, and for Riku, it's his Final Limit from 358/2 Days.)_**

_Read & Review._

_Your support is very much appreciated._


	23. The Pride Lands

**Chapter 23 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

Back in Merlin's Study, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy anxiously awaited the rest of the party's return. They jumped in surprise as three flashes of light flashed before, and the three portals opened up before them. Soon enough, the rest of the party exited from them. The portals disappeared as soon as everyone was through.

"How'd it go?" Mickey asked.

"Just great," Terra said as he got Riku in a playful headlock, "This guy here's a fast learner."

"Well, what do you expect when you've got this guy as a teacher?" Riku chuckled as he wiggled out of Terra's headlock. Everyone else also chuckled at how the two looked like brothers that way.

"You've all done very well." Merlin said.

"Thanks for everything." Roxas said, namely about his previous injury.

"Of course, young lad. Now you'd all best be off. You swill have a long, and dangerous road ahead of you." Merlin said.

The party nodded and bowed in respect before leaving the Study. Sora quickly headed to the Keyhole and absorbed the light of the world before the party left through the World Exit.

******XXXXXXXXXX**

_**The Lanes Between**_

"Well, so much for a relaxing evening." Kairi sarcastically said.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad," Sora responded before Roxas let out a loud, fake cough, easily reminding Sora of earlier, "Well, you know, except for the whole Roxas getting injured part."

"Thank you." Roxas proudly said as he engaged the Warp Drive. The Falcon Peak instantly blasted off through space.

"Roxas, where are we going?" Naminé yelled as the ship shook from the intense speed.

The Pride Lands." Roxas answered. Within seconds, the Gummi Ship arrived at the Pride Lands, and proceeded to the entrance. Donald then pulled out Save the Queen and cast a transformation spell on everyone before they landed.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**_Pride Lands_**

When the party arrived in the world they found themselves in their animal forms.

Sora was an ashy brown lion cub. His toes, belly, and fur around his mouth were a very light grey, and his mane was shaped like his normal, spiky hairstyle with the same light brown color. His tail had a tuft of light brown hair at the tip, and his sclera turned yellow, while his eyes remained blue, and his silver crown necklace still hung around his neck.

Donald was a white, tropical bird, with his wings tail feathers tipped blue, and Goofy as a tortoise.

Roxas was a creamy yellow lion cub. His toes, belly, and fur around his mouth were pure white, and his mane was shaped like his normal, golden blond, spiky hairstyle. His tail had a tuft of golden blond hair at the tip, with another checkered band under it, and like Sora, his sclera turned yellow. His jacket zipper hung around his neck as a necklace.

Kairi was a milk chocolate lioness cub. Her toes, belly, and fur around her mouth were a very light, ashy pink, her mane was shaped similar to her hair, though was still dark red hair in color. She had a tuft of dark red hair on the tip of her tail, and her sclera turned yellow. Her pairs of bracelets were on her front legs, and her bead necklace hung around her neck along with the her Heart of Eternity necklace.

Naminé was a creamy white lioness cub. Her toes, belly, and fur around her mouth were a slightly lighter shade of her fur, and her mane was shaped similar to her blonde hair. Her tail had a tuft of blonde hair at the tip, and her sclera turned yellow. Her pairs of bracelets were on her front legs, and her Heart of the Ocean necklace hung around her neck.

Riku was a grayish blue lion cub, a bit taller than Sora. His toes, belly, and fur around his mouth were pure white, and his mane was shaped similar to his hairstyle, namely his bangs. His tail had a tuft of white at the tip, and his sclera turned yellow.

Terra was an ashy brown lion. His toes, belly, and fur around his mouth were a lighter shade of ash brown, and his large, brown mane was shaped much like his normal hairstyle, while mixing in much of a normal lions mane. His tail had a tuft of brown on it, and his sclera turned yellow. His front left leg was covered with his armor, his red, criss-crossing straps wrapped around his mane and back, and his belt wrapped around his stomach.

Aqua was a very grayish blue lioness. Her toes, belly, and fur around her mouth were a grayish white, and her mane was shaped like her blue hair. Her tail had a tuft of blue hair on the tip, and her sclera turned yellow. Her bell-sleeves and two segmented pieces of armor were on her front legs, and her two pink, criss-crossing straps were wrapped around her neck and chest.

Ven was a beige lion cub. His toes, belly, and fur around his mouth were a sandy white, and his mane was shaped like his normal, golden blond, spiky hairstyle. His tail had a tuft of golden blond hair at the tip, and his sclera turned yellow. His black, criss-crossing straps were wrapped around his neck and chest, and his white checkered wristband was on his front left leg.

Mickey went from being a mouse to a lion like Pete had during Sora, Donald, and Goofy's first time in the Pride Lands.

"Well, this is... different." Kairi said as she and the other newcomers examined their new forms.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around to see the land was as it was before they first came to the world. The grass had grown back, the trees had grown their leaves back, and the skies were once again blue.

"Wow, this place looks like a paradise." Riku said in amazement.

"Hey, let's go see Simba." Sora. Donald and Goofy nodded, and the party raced off towards the Pride Lands, much faster than they would've in their normal forms. But they weren't aware of what was happening outside the Pride Lands. In the Out Lands, lived the Out Landers, evil lions that were banished from the Pride Lands. They were planning on taking revenge on the Pride Landers and Simba. They would use their strength, and those of the Heartless, to wipe them all out and take revenge. This doesn't look good for Sora's party, or Simba.

**(AN: To get a better visual image, I'm going to post links of new lion forms below) (Though with Mickey... you're imagination's on its own.)**

**(Make sure to delete every space between keys in the URL). **

**Roxas's Lion Form: **http:/ /kingdomhearts. wikia. com /wiki/ File: Lion Sora Roxas .png

**Kairi's Lion Form: **http: / /kingdomhearts. wikia. com /wiki/ File: Sora Kairi Lions .png

**Naminé's Lion Form: **(For Naminé, just look up "_Naminé lion form" _on Google, and it's the picture with her, Axel, and Roxas)

**********Riku's Lion Form: **http: / / kh-pridelands. deviantart. com/ gallery/ ?set= 26212158 & off set= 48# / d33y 7gw

**(For Terra, Aqua, and Ven's pictures, make sure not to delete any of the **_** keys.)**

**********Terra's Lion Form: **http:/ /kingdomhearts. wikia. com /wiki/ File: Kh_pridelands_terra_by_kaiser tiger-d38 qqsu .png

**Aqua's Lion Form: **http:/ /kingdomhearts. wikia. com /wiki/ File: Kh_pridelands_aqua_by_kaiser tiger-d39 6e36 .png

**Ven's Lion Form: **http:/ /kingdomhearts. wikia. com /wiki/ File: Ven_lion_by_kaiser tiger-d2zd phx .png

* * *

_AN: Read & Review_

_Your support is much appreciated_

_Sorry for the short chapter_


	24. Darkness Sweeps the Land

**Chapter 24 (Remastered Version)**

* * *

_**Pride Lands**_

Sora and the others had finally reached Pride Rock, to see many lionesses walking around the area. Sora quickly ran up to one of them "Hey, do you know where Simba is? Sora asked.

"Oh Sora, you've come back. His majesty's currently out, but he'll be back soon. In the meantime, you and your friends should make yourselves at home. Our king will be mos happy to learn you've returned." the lioness said.

"Thanks." Sora said before he ran back to the group.

"He's not here right now." Sora said.

"Guess we'll just have to wait here." Riku said.

The party was allowed to stay in the King's Den until Simba returned. After ten minutes passed, Simba had returned, and was informed that Sora and his friends had arrived. He quickly rushed to the King's Den to see Sora and the rest of the party.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Simba said with joy as he ran over to his friends.

"Hey Simba." said Sora as he and the others walked over to greet the king.

'Things seem to be going well here." Donald said.

"Yeah, they have. The land has completely recovered from when Scar was in charge, but there's been trouble with the Out Landers." Simba said.

"Say, where's Nala? Did she have your child yet?" said Goofy.

"Not yet, but soon. The reason I was gone is because I moved Nala to the Oasis. I didn't want her and my unborn child to get mixed up in this." Simba said before turning his attention to Sora's friends, "By the way Sora, who are you're friends here?"

"Oh yeah, these are my friends, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, and Ven." Sora introduced. The others respectfully bowed before Simba.

"Well as far as I'm concerned, you're all welcome here as Pride Landers." Simba said.

"Thanks." Kairi said.

"So, what exactly is this problem you're having right now?" Riku asked.

"Well, you see, the Out Landers got a hold of some kind of dark magic. I don't know what their planning on using it for, or even what it does, but what I do know is that when the got this power, a dark force field suddenly appeared, separating the Out Lands from everything else. Touching the force field will kill something in an instant." Simba.

"They must be planning something on the other side of the field. They're just using it to prevent anyone from interfering." Terra said.

"You're probably right," Ven agreed, "But we still don't know what they're doing. We've got to get rid of that force field before it's too late."

"Simba, can you take us to the force field? We might be able to take it down." Sora said. Simba nodded as he led the party out to the Savannah.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party arrived at the Elephant Graveyard, they all gasped at seeing the force field as a very large black dome that covered basically all of the Outlands.

"Let's see just how strong this thing is." Roxas said as everyone summoned their weapons. They all angled their weapons so the tips all pointed at one area. Once enough energy charged, the weapons all fired beams of light at the force field. When the beams combined and collided into a large beam of light, the attack slammed against the force field.

It quickly slammed into the force field, causing electric bolts of light and darkness to crackle and shoot out everywhere. The party saw cracks begin to form on the force field's surface, but the beam of light gave out and dissipated before it could break through. "It's not enough." Goofy disappointingly said.

"One more time!" Aqua suggested. Everyone quickly readied their weapons for another attack.

"This time, give it all you got!" Terra said. Everyone did as Terra suggested, and shot beams of light from their weapons with everything they had. This time, the beam of light was much larger, and more powerful. The blast put even more pressure on the force field than before. Soon enough, even larger cracks began forming over all of the force field, before the entire force field shattered like glass. Shards of dark energy rained down and they dissipated as soon as they even touched the ground.

"Well that takes care of that. Now to see what's going on in there." Sora said, and the party quickly raced into the Elephant Graveyard.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they arrived in the center of the Elephant Graveyard, they saw it was still the same as ever. Dark, eerie, elephant skeletons everywhere, the usual. "Are the hyena's behind this?" Sora asked.

"No. After Scar died, they all moved out. The Out Landers are all that occupy it. They're rogue lions banished from the Pride Lands." Simba said.

"Is it possible they've got some kind of power to attack the Pride Lands with?" Ven said.

"Could be." Naminé said.

Suddenly, an earthquake began, and shook the graveyard like crazy. Rocks and bones fell to the ground as cracks began forming on the ground. "What the hell's going on? Is this something that happens normally?" Roxas shouted as he was trying to stay upright from all the shaking.

"No, this isn't normal. Something's not right here." Simba said. Suddenly, a misty dark energy began spewing out of the cracks into the air. It all began swirling into a vortex as purple lightning crackled throughout it wildly. Suddenly, a monstrous figure began to form in the vortex of dark energy. The party could make it out to be an extremely large creature with horns, fangs, sharp claws, spikes on its arms and back, glowing purple eyes, and about the size of Pride Rock. "What is that thing?" Riku said as he got ready to summon his Keyblade.

"Trouble." Aqua answered.

The large creature descended from the skies and landed in the Savannah. The creature then turned around and walked in the opposite direction, towards the Pride Lands.

"It's headed for Pride Rock!" Sora exclaimed.

"Let's try to head it off!" Mickey said. The party quickly headed for the exit of the Elephant Graveyard, but suddenly, another dark force field appeared around the graveyard, preventing them from escaping. An army of Out Lander lions quickly surrounded the group. Their eyes were glowing bright yellow as their bodies were surrounded by a black aura.

"You guys aren't goin' anywhere." one of the lions sneered, saliva dripping from his mouth.

"This doesn't look good." Donald quacked with fear.

"We can take 'em." Goofy confidently assured.

Everyone quickly summoned their weapons and got ready for the intense fight.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The giant monster that materialized from the sky had finally reached Pride Rock. It cast an extremely large Graviga spell, and all the animals at Pride Rock were pinned to the ground. An orb of dark energy formed between the creatures two horns, and continued growing in size as the energy continuously built up. Once it charged enough energy, the creature fired the large blast of darkness at Pride Rock. The blast slammed into Pride Rock, creating a massive explosion, and covering the area with a large smoke. The giant creature then cast an Aero spell, blowing all the smoke away with the large, green storm. When all the smoke cleared, inside of Pride Rock, lay the Keyhole. The creature inserted one of its claws into the keyhole, and twisted it. A clicking sound was heard, and... the Keyhole opened!

The creature removed its finger from the Keyhole as a bright light shined from it. Out of the Keyhole, raced the light of the world. The light drifted up to the creature, who held its hand under it. The light was then covered by dark energy, corrupting it. The corrupted light then entered into the creature's chest, shining with a tainted, violet light. A violet and black aura surrounded the creature's entire body, and its eyes were glowing yellow with evil energy seeping from them. More dark clouds appeared in the sky, covering the entire world in a cloud of darkness. Purple and black lightning flashed throughout the sky, striking various area of the world.

The creature then created a cloud of darkness between its horns, and shot it into the sky. Thousands of dark wisps then shot down to the ground below. As soon as they touched the ground, they materialized as Heartless, their numbers in the thousands, covering the entire Savannah, plunging the entire world into darkness.

Is this the end of this world?

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	25. Battle In The Savannah Part 1

**Chapter 25 (Remastered Version)**

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After an intense and exhausting battle, the last of the Out Lander lions fell to the ground in defeat, as Sora and the others stood before them in triumph. "Heh, they weren't so tough." Sora said as he was breathing heavily.

"Hey, what's that?" a startled Roxas alerted. The party quickly turned around to see dark clouds covering the land even greater than before, and dark lightning was flashing throughout the entire sky.

"We're too late." Naminé said in horror.

"Not if I can help it! C'mon!" Simba said as he and the others ran to the Savannah.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the party arrived, they saw the entire Savannah was covered with Heartless, with the giant Heartless hovering in the air.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Riku yelled in shock and frustration at the large number of Heartless there were.

"There's gotta be like a thousand of them." Ven observed as he scanned the Savannah.

"No way, more like five thousand." Kairi corrected.

"Plus, a giant monster in the sky," Sora added in. At this point, Sora knew they had no choice and turned towards Donald.

"Donald, we've got no choice. Undo the transformation spell on us."

"What?-!" Donald loudly quacked, "But Sora, we have to uphold the law!"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Sora countered.

Donald was unsure of what to do and turned to Mickey. "Your majesty, what should we do?"

"I'll have to agree with Sora on this one," Mickey answered, "These forms restricts us too much, and while it may be against the law, against an enemy like this, we can't have that."

"Well, alright." Donald replied with uncertainty. Donald pointed Save the Queen to the sky and fired eleven orbs of light into the sky. The orbs came down and touched each of the party members, enveloping them in a bright flash of light. When the light cleared, the party was returned to their normal forms. All the humans stretched their arms in relief of returning to normal.

"That feels so much better." Riku commented as he stretched his arms.

"This should make things much easier." Terra added in.

"Let's take care of the small fry first before dealing with the big guy up there." Aqua suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." agreed Mickey.

"Let's go!" Naminé exclaimed as everyone summoned their weapons.

"I'll lead the attack on the way in!" Sora said. The others nodded in agreement. The party charged the second towards the battalions of Heartless right behind Sora; ready to go into all out war. As the party was getting closer, Sora quickly changed into Valor Form, summoning both Ultima Weapon and Ultima Edge. As soon as they reached the front of the battalions, Sora initiated Sonic Strike, spearing through scores of Heartless with the party right behind him. Sora then quickly deactivated Valor, and switched the Wisdom. He jumped into the air and fired a large Firaga spell, which took out a large group of Shamans.

Kairi changed into Valor Form as well and summoned Divine Rose to her left hand. She began slicing through enemies by using her Keyblades like spinning saws. Kairi immediately followed up with Over the Horizon and lunged forward while swinging her Keyblades rapidly, slicing apart several Living Bones. She then finished with Sonic End, destroying several more Living Bones and Shamans with furious slashes.

Riku cut through rows of enemies combining his sword skills with his great speed and agility. Any enemy Riku cut down was destroyed without them even realizing what happened. Riku then turned to see a group of Necromancer Heartless lunge towards him at once, wildly slashing their claws towards his chest. Riku immediately countered with Dark Shield and blocked all the attacks at once. Suddenly, a Living Bone charged from behind and spun towards Riku, swinging its tail at his back. Riku noticed the attack and quickly brought up Way to the Dawn with his right arm, only to have the Keyblade knocked from his hand by the Living Bone's tail.

The Living Bone's tail then came back towards Riku. Riku quickly used his right arm to make another Dark Shield to block the attacks from both sides. "I could use some help here!" Riku called out.

"On it!" Terra acknowledged, and quickly used Sonic Shadow. Terra soared through the air and pierced through the Heartless surrounding Riku. Riku let down his Dark Shields as soon as the Heartless were destroyed.

"Thanks." Riku said.

"No problem. Don't worry, I've got your back." Terra replied, only for a group of Shamans to pounce on him from behind. Riku immediately summoned One Winged Angel into his hand and jumped over Terra, destroying the Heartless with a single swing from the Keyblade.

"And I've got yours." Riku added in. Terra smiled and nodded in agreement. Terra immediately activated Critical Impact, while Riku activated Darkstrom, and the two charged towards the Living Bones in their way. Terra swung up with Ends of the Earth and cut down a Living Bone with ease. he then spun around and swung up again and took out another one with no problems.

Riku flew down from above and cut another Living Bone clean in half. As soon as the Heartless dissipated, Riku noticed his Way to the Dawn sticking out of the ground behind it. With a confident smirk, Riku threw One Winged Angel towards the last Living Bone. The Keyblade stabbed through the head easily. Riku quickly retrieved Way to the Dawn and charged towards the Living Bone, cutting down with two powerful swings.

Ven, while using his Fever Pitch Command Style, was cutting through enemies with incredible speed. Ven quickly used Stun Edge and cut down two Necromancers with one swing. He quickly followed up with Strike Raid, and threw Wayward Wind with incredible speed. The flying Keyblade sliced through a group of Shaman and Necromancers, before returning to Ven's hand. However, Ven soon found himself surrounded by a large number of Shamans. The Shamans all cast a spell at him, causing blue flames to appear at Ven's feet. Ven braced himself for the attack, only for Aqua to come to his aid.

She quickly used Barrier and saved both herself, and Ven, from the deadly flames. "Be more careful, Ven!" Aqua said as she let down the Barrier and activated Spell Weaver.

"Don't worry, I will be." Ven assured. The Shamans attacked from all directions, but Ven knew he had them cornered. "Wind!" Ven yelled as he cast an Aero spell. The attacking Shamans were drawn into the small green storm, and were quickly destroyed. The two apprentices charged forward and attacked the Living Bones in front of them. However, these Living Bones had Shamans and Necromancers riding on their backs. The small Heartless all cast fire spells at Ven and Aqua, while the Living Bones spun towards them with their tails.

Ven used Dodge Roll to avoid the fire and a couple Living Bones, while Aqua avoided them using Cartwheel. Aqua quickly used her telekinesis and swung Stormfall at the Living Bones, decapitating all of them at once. Despite this, the headless bodies continued to attack Aqua with their tails. Aqua was easily able to avoid the tails thanks to her agility.

Ven quickly used his Fever Pitch finisher and killed three Living Bones with speedy swings, and finishing the Shamans with the lines of light. Aqua followed up and used her Spell Weaver finisher, killing the rest with her magical spin.

Roxas and Naminé were quickly found themselves surrounded by an extremely large number of Rapid Thrusters. The two nodded to each other, and used their new Shotlock ability. "Ladies first." Roxas insisted.

"Why thank you." Naminé replied. She turned her attention to the Heartless before her, and immediately activated her Wave Rider Shotlock. While covered in an aura of water, Naminé speared through a large number of the Heartless, targeted or not. As soon as she finished her attack, Roxas used his Shotlock, 13 Beams, to finish off the remainder of the Heartless. Roxas then immediately charged towards a group of unsuspecting Necromancers, killing them all at once with Duel Stance.

Roxas and Naminé were quickly surrounded again, so they decided to try their new Limit, Sacred Flight. Naminé dismissed Two Become One as Roxas handed her Oathkeeper. The two grabbed one anothers hands while they held their Keyblades to the sky with their other hand. They began to glide extremely fast along the ground while surrounded by a bright white glow. As they glided through enemies, they slashed them with their Keyblades, utterly destroying the Heartless. The two then quickly jumped high into the air, and floated above the creatures below. The Keyblades floated from their hands; Oathkeeper surrounded by a bright white aura, as Oblivion was surrounded by a black aura.

Roxas floated behind Naminé, and wrapped his arms around her waist as she brought her hands together as if in prayer. A pair of white angel wings appeared from Naminé's back as a pair of black angel wings appeared from Roxas's back. Naminé began singing a divine melody with the voice of an angel. Her wings and Roxas's began glowing as they rose their wings up to the sky.

Feathers began shooting off their wings and shot towards enemies below. Enemies were instantly skewered one after another as the sharp energy feathers pierced through them. Finally, a bright light shot down and incinerated all creatures within its range. Their wings disappeared as the two landed on the ground. Oathkeeper and Oblivion returned to Roxas's hands, as Naminé summoned Two Become One. The two shared a quick kiss before returning to the fight at hand.

Mickey was having no trouble slicing through enemies since he was very fast and agile. He Pearl attack to great effect since balls of light energy greatly effected beings of darkness.

Simba slashed his way through enemies easily since he had battle experience from the past. If creatures tried to attack him from behind, he would land a powerful back kick to them. The gang quickly grouped up to see there were only about two thousand five hundred enemies left.

Sora used his Golden Sun Command Style to cut through enemies like they were nothing. He then used his Holy Burst Shotlock, taking out a group of Neoshadows with ease. He then followed up with his Golden Sun finisher. He quickly cut down five more Neoshadows before firing a golden fireball of light. The fireball exploded, taking down a group of Shamans. However, several more Neoshadows attacked from behind, pinning him to the ground before he could react.

"Get off me!" Sora yelled as he struggled against the strength of the numerous Heartless. More Neoshadows came charging in and piled continually on Sora. Then, without a moment's notice, a bright gold light was shining from where Sora was in the large pile. A large burst of light was then released, blasting all the Heartless off Sora. At that moment, Donald and Goofy joined Sora's side.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright.' Sora answered. The trio turned to see more Neoshadows, and Living Bones charging in. "I think it's time for some teamwork. Right?"

Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement. At that moment, the trio initiated their Trinity Limit. They began with Major Drive and fired a large barrage of Drive Orbs, driving back the Heartless. Next was Ultima, creating a series of fireworks that slightly damaged the Heartless. Finally, they used Break, hitting the Heartless with a barrage of mid-air slashes. The three landed and joined their weapons in the middle, creating a light in the center. When they raised their weapons up, a bright light exploded from the smaller one, engulfing and destroying a large number of Heartless.

The grueling battle continued for what felt like hours. The party huddled together in the middle, exhausted to the point of collapse.

"Damn it! There's still so many of them." Roxas tiredly growled as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"We can't stop now." Sora said with increased breathing.

"We've gotta find a way to take them all out at once somehow." Riku suggested.

"Yeah, but how?" Ven asked.

Suddenly, Aqua collapsed to her knees; her hand clutching her heart, and her face filled with pain. Terra quickly went to his friend's aid. "Aqua, you okay?" Terra worryingly asked. In that instant, a bright light shined from Aqua's chest, catching everyone's attention.

"What's happening?-!" Mickey exclaimed as he and the rest of the party shielded their eyes from the bright light.

_"It's just like before." _Aqua thought as she remembered the same light from when she defeated the Original Cog.

Aqua screamed in pain as the light intensified and burst forth from her chest. The result was a magnificent explosion of light that engulfed the entire Savannah in its glory. As soon as the light faded, the party unshielded their eyes, only to behold the Savannah cleared of all the Heartless surrounding them. Everyone's eyes fell on Aqua, whose face was overcome with exhaustion.

Terra quickly attended to his friend, "Aqua, are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down and placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"I'm... I'm okay." Aqua assured, but soon enough, she fainted in Terra's arms.

"No good, she's out cold." Terra said as he cradled Aqua in his arms. A monstrous roar brought the party's attention to the massive heartless hovering above the Savannah. At that moment however, more Pride Lands Heartless manifested around the party, adding more complication to the situation.

"We've gotta take that thing out now." Roxas said.

"But we can't fight it and the other Heartless while protecting Aqua." Goofy countered. At that moment, Sora came up with a plan.

"Okay, here's what we'll do. Kairi, you Naminé, and Mickey tend to Aqua. Ven, you, Simba, Donald, Goofy, and Terra take care of the Heartless still around. Riku, Roxas, and I will deal with big and ugly up there. " Sora suggested.

Ven nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan."

Terra gently laid Aqua on the ground, and his party turned their attention to the remaining Heartless on the ground. "Let's go!" Terra exclaimed. He charged for the Heartless, with Ven, Simba, Donald, and Goofy right behind him,

As Mickey quickly attended to Aqua, Kairi and Naminé gave their loves worried looks, "Be careful," they said.

Roxas and Sora both gave them a reassuring smile before they took to the skies alongside Riku.

* * *

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	26. Battle In The Savannah Part 2

**Part 2**

Xehanort and his Apprentice looked down to see Sora and his friends flying up towards them. The two quickly disappeared through a dark portal, leaving Sora and the others to deal with their beast. The creature looked down to see Sora and the others flying up towards it.

The beast quickly charged up a large ball of dark energy in its mouth and fired the blast at the gang. They quickly spread out to avoid getting hit by the large blast. When it collided with the ground, it cause a massive purple explosion that illuminated the entire land. "Geez, talk about power." said Ven.

"Yeah, but the question is, do it have enough to stop us?" Riku said as everyone flew at the creature. The gang began flying around the beast in circles while firing blasts of magic at it. The creature tried swatting them away, but they would either fly over or under the strikes.

Roxas flew up and swung Oblivion at the creatures forehead. The blade bounced off the surface, as though the creatures head was made of some kind of hard metal. Roxas flew back as the creature glided after him. It began snapping is large and sharp jaws at Roxas, who used his Keyblades to deflect its attacks.

Roxas continually slashed at the creatures head with Oathkeeper and Oblivion, but no matter how many times he swung the attack had no effect. Roxas quickly swung Oathkeeper at the creatures head, but the creature caught the blade of the weapon in its mouth. It swung its head hard and sent Roxas flying.

Roxas quickly regained control of his body to see the creature fire a ball of energy at him, which he wouldn't have time to dodge or block. Aqua quickly flew over and cast a very large Reflectga around them. The energy blast collided with the large energy sphere and exploded. The smoke cleared to reveal the Reflectga was still okay. The Reflectga vanished, revealing Aqua and Roxas were okay.

"You okay Roxas?"

"Yeah."

The two quickly flew back to rejoin the others. Riku and Sora decided to double team the creature. As the creature swung its claws or tail at them, Sora and Riku would dodge them while mimicking the actions of each other. The creature then opened its mouth and fired a large series of energy spikes from its mouth at the two. Sora and Riku flew back to get a good distance from the spikes.

Riku quickly summoned One Winged Angel to his hand. "Now Sora!"

The two threw their Keyblades straight at the energy spikes which took out four. As energy spikes closed in on them, Riku and Sora continuously summoned Keyblades to their hands and threw them straight at energy spikes which destroyed the spikes. After all the spikes were gone the Keyblades disappeared except for Ultima Weapon, Ultima Edge, and Way to the Dawn.

An energy ball was suddenly sent flying at the two though luckily, Terra flew in front of the ball and destroyed it with a single swing. "How are you two holding up?"

"Just fine." Sora answered. Ven flew up next to Sora.

"Anyone know if this thing has a weak spot?"

"So far, I don't see anything that would qualify as a weak spot." said Riku.

The four observed the creature, checking to see if anything about its body looked at all like a weak spot. "Well, its back looks very hard so I think we can roll that out."

"So maybe we can try hitting it underneath." Ven suggested.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Terra said as the four flew to the creature to try out Ven's theory. Kairi and Naminé were dodging swipes from the creatures arms while retaliating with magic blasts. Sora then suddenly flew up in between the two.

"It's no use attacking its top part. We're gonna try seeing if hitting the bottom has a better effect" Sora said.

"Okay" said Kairi as the two flew off with Sora.

"Roxas, we're gonna need a distraction!" Sora shouted over. Roxas nodded in response as he charged up his Keyblades with Light energy. Roxas quickly activated Twilight Punishment. He sent his thirteen light shields around the creature in a circular patter as the twilight mist appeared.

Roxas began firing balls of light energy at the creature with as much energy as he could. The energy balls seemed to sting the creature whenever one of them made contact which made sense since the creature was a being made of darkness. "Hurry up you guys!" Roxas shouted down as the gang flew to the creatures underside.

They reached it and were considering the best way of attacking. "Let me take care of this" Terra said as he transformed his Keyblade into its gauntlet form. The two guard pieces began spinning around his gauntlet rapidly as sharp, spiked, and translucent energy rings appeared around it.

Terra flew over full speed and swung his fist directly into the stomach of the beast. The creature let out a loud cry of pain from the powerful hit it just received. Terra removed his fist and flew back down to the gang. "You were right Ven, the stomach was the weak spot"

"Eh, it was just a lucky guess"

"Well, now that we know its weak spot, lets take it out" Kairi said. The gang nodded as they flew towards the creatures stomach. Roxas dismissed the Twilight Punishment to join up with his friends. The creature, realizing the gang had figured out its weak spot, flew back from them, trying to keep its distance.

The creature brought its wings back and quickly flapped them rapidly at the group. The strong and rapid flaps sent large gusts of wind at the group. "Heads up!" Kairi alerted the gang to the incoming wind gusts. They quickly split up as more and more wind gusts were sent their way.

"Damn, we can't any closer than this!" Simba said.

"Yeah we can. Hey Goofy, get ready" said Sora.

Sora and Goofy quickly activate Teamwork. They immediately skipped to the final step and Goofy positioned himself in front of Sora's Keyblades. Sora quickly fired Goofy at the beast with a huge amount of energy being released. Goofy flew at extremely high speeds as a golden energy surrounded him.

Goofy's power surge sent him straight through the wind gusts and he slammed directly into the creatures stomach. The creature let out a loud cry of pain as Goofy flew l back to the gang. "It's all clear" Goofy said.

"Alright, let's take him down Sora!" Simba said.

"Okay" said Sora as he transformed back into his Lion Form. The two were covered by blue energy as they sped towards the creature. When they made contact with its stomach, the two burst through its body which caused the creature a great deal of pain. The two turned around and continued their attack.

The lights continued piercing through the creature at great speeds and parts of the creatures body broke off as the attack on it continued. After an attack to the chest, a large part was torn off and revealed the darkened light of the world embedded in the creatures chest.

"Alright, one last strike! Make it a hard one!" Sora said. The lights that were Sora and Simba burst towards the creatures chest while next to each other which gave them the appearance of a comet. The two violently slammed into the chest of the creature, which caused the creatures movement to completely cease.

The two quickly flew away from the creatures as beams of light started shooting out of the creatures body before an orb of light engulfed its body. There was a massive explosion which illuminated the entire area in a bright white light. Sora changed back into his human form as the gang flew back down to the ground.

After the light faded, the light of the world shined in the sky. The dark skies faded as they returned to their blue color. All the animals were then released from Xehanort's Graviga. The light of the world floated down and merged with Sora's Drive clothes. "So, is it over?" Simba asked.

"Yeah, it's over" Sora replied.

"Thanks again Sora. Couldn't have done it without you" said Simba.

"Eh, no prob"

"So, I guess it's time for us to get going huh?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah" Naminé answered.

"But, we'll come back every now and then right guys?" Riku asked.

"Of course we will" Aqua answered.

"Well, let's get moving guys" Terra said and the gang headed off to the world exit.

* * *

Now the gang were back in the Universe considering which world to visit next. Though while they were thinking about it, Sora had something on his mind. **"**_At the rate we're going, we might not collect all the lights in time to stop Xehanort's plan. At this point, there's only one way to speed this up"_

"So where should we go next?" Ven asked.

"Actually, I have a different idea" said Sora.

"What idea?" Donald asked.

"See the way we've been going, we've been collecting the lights too slow. At the rate we're going, Xehanort may already be very close to finishing his plans. We need a faster way to collect the lights before he can finish them"

"So what should we do?" Goofy asked.

"I think we should spilt up. That way we can gather the lights much faster than we have been so far" Sora suggested.

"Yeah, that just might work" Roxas said.

"Then let's do it" Sora said and everyone nodded in response. Then the Gummi Ship's monitor starting beeping.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"A message" Donald answered. He walked over and pushed a button which displayed a holographic message to the whole gang. It was a request that King Mickey returns to Disney Castle to help deal with some chaos that's still going on.

"Well, I've gotta go. You guys can handle the rest right?" Mickey said.

"Yeah" Sora answered.

"Be careful" Riku advised. Mickey nodded and the Gummi Ship quickly flew to Disney Castle to drop off Mickey. Afterwards, the gang was allowed to borrow other Gummi Ship's that were stored in the castle to make Sora's split up plan possible. The gang had divided up into three groups.

The first group was Sora, Donald, and Goofy. The second group was Roxas, Kairi, Naminé, and Riku. The third group was Terra, Aqua, and Ven. Now the gang will have three times the chance of success. Let's hope that Sora's plan doesn't turn out to be a mess up.

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